ADDRESS AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE PRIOR TO THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF ICAAP 11- HE Nailatikau

22/11/2013


H.E. RATU EPELI NAILATIKAU
CF, LVO, OBE (Mil), OStJ, CSM, MSD
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI



Tuesday 19th November, 2013
Bangkok
THAILAND



Members of the press, colleagues, friends

It is a great pleasure to be with you here in Bangkok today as we prepare for the opening of ICAAP11.

It is important that this meeting is taking place in this historic city of Bangkok.

Thailand has had an impressive history of achievement on HIV, made possible with the close involvement of a vibrant civil society and it should keep on doing that.

Thailand encapsulates the essence of what the AIDS response was like and still should be – solid political commitment, practical experience, focused programming, domestic financing, community involvement at front and centre.

I am looking forward to an insightful, exciting four days of this Congress.
We will soon be taking to the plenary stage to officially mark the opening of the Conference.

One of the central issues I will be discussing in my opening remarks – and throughout the congress – is the issue of stigma and discrimination.

At this congress, our discussions are framed in the “three zero” vision – zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths.

Achieving “zero discrimination” is fundamental to the achievement of zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS-related deaths.

Indeed, in the 2011 political declaration on HIV and AIDS, Target 8 states ‘eliminate stigma and discrimination through the promotion of laws and policies that ensure the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms’.

We know that our region faces significant challenges in this regard. But many countries around the region are showing increasing courage and action in addressing these issues to try to reduce stigma and discrimination. I will touch on some of these later.

We know that punitive legal environments impede the implementation of HIV programmes focusing on people living with HIV and key populations at higher risk, including men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who use drugs, young people, prisoners and women and girls.

At the same time, the differences in culture, lifestyle and behaviour contribute to building barriers that people think will protect them, leading to the denial of the existence of behaviours outside their own personal or cultural norms.

This is why legal reform is crucial to the AIDS response.

Pacific island countries have a history of leadership in the AIDS response, and Fiji has risen to the challenge of removing legal barriers to effective HIV programmes and tackling stigma and discrimination through legal reform.

In Fiji, we saw that the constant threat of arrest, conviction and incarceration faced by men who have sex with men increased their vulnerability to HIV and made them hard to reach.

Fiji became the first Pacific Island country with colonial-era sodomy laws to formally decriminalize sex between men when it passed the Fiji National Crimes Decree in February 2010.

In February 2011, the Government of Fiji enacted the Fiji HIV/AIDS Decree. This was internationally compliant in addressing the human rights violations that acted as barriers to the HIV response.

The decree was amended only six months later, after close cooperation with our friends and partners and removed HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence, adding Fiji to a growing list of countries that are aligning national HIV legislation with international public health standards.

The Decree also removed HIV-specific criminal offences for HIV transmission or exposure.

The benefits of these legal changes have already materialised with improved access to services for those in our population most at risk of HIV.

However, our work in Fiji is not done. But the decree was a significant starting point in harnessing the protective power of laws to tackle stigma and discrimination head-on and to bring our island nation closer to the goal of an end to AIDS.

Across this region we are now seeing that a growing number of other countries and their governments are at last acknowledging that HIV-related stigma and punitive legal environments had been holding back progress, and are moving to remedy these.

Programmes addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the workplace, schools and faith-based organizations were also reported as contributing to progress towards this target in several countries, though such programmes are rarely implemented at a large enough scale.

Non-existent or weak systems for monitoring and documenting HIV-related stigma and discrimination are also hampering strategic responses in this area.

Reforms to remove punitive laws or strengthen protective laws have been achieved through coordinated, inclusive and evidence-informed dialogue in countries as diverse as Fiji, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Structural change to legal systems that can hinder access to HIV services is also being driven by communities.

For example, successful legal challenges have been made to laws in India to decriminalize sex between men and to challenge illegitimate drug patents; and legal challenges in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Nepal and Pakistan have resulted in the recognition and protection of the rights of transgender people.

It is clear that those countries that have taken bold action on stigma and discrimination report better results in achieving the 10 targets.

I am proud of the progress I see in the region.

But we need to do more. Too many people from key populations are still unable to access the services they need – either through fear of stigma and discriminations and/or for fear of legal recriminations.

I am keen to hear and participate in the discussions around the issues of stigma and discrimination here at the Congress.
We have much to share and much to learn from each other.

It is my hope that through this mutual dialogue we can drive sustained action, to further our progress and achieve the results – to get the Asia-Pacific region to the ultimate vision of - zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

Thank you.

-End-