2021 HRC resolution on human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS

HRC 47th ses­sion
27 July 2021

Res­o­lu­tion A/HRC/RES/47/14

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Analysis of precedential value

This UN Human Rights Coun­cil (HRC) res­o­lu­tion was adopted by a recorded vote of 42 to 0, with 5 absten­tions, in July 2021. This doc­u­ment was co-drafted by rep­re­sen­ta­tives of 25 Mem­ber States, 22 of which were not mem­bers of the sit­ting HRC.

The HRC is com­posed of elected rep­re­sen­ta­tives from 47 Mem­ber States; together, they are respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing inves­ti­ga­tions of and responses to human rights vio­la­tions.

Used as precedent

access to health products

• “Urges States to bring their laws, poli­cies and prac­tices, includ­ing their strate­gies for imple­ment­ing the HIV- and other health-related Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals, fully into com­pli­ance with their oblig­a­tions under inter­na­tional human rights law, and to review or repeal those that are dis­crim­i­na­tory or that adversely affect the suc­cess­ful, effec­tive and equi­table deliv­ery of, and access to, HIV pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port pro­grammes for all per­sons liv­ing with, pre­sumed to be liv­ing with, at risk of or affected by HIV, includ­ing key pop­u­la­tions.” (para­graph 7)

human rights

• “Affirms that respect for and the pro­tec­tion and ful­fil­ment of human rights in the con­text of HIV, includ­ing uni­ver­sal access to HIV-related pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port, are an essen­tial ele­ment in achiev­ing the full real­iza­tion of the right of every­one to the enjoy­ment of the high­est attain­able stan­dard of phys­i­cal and men­tal health and in end­ing AIDS.” (para­graph 1)

key and vulnerable populations

• “Calls upon States to address the inequities and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties faced by chil­dren affected by or liv­ing with HIV, pro­vid­ing those chil­dren and their fam­i­lies with social pro­tec­tion, sup­port and reha­bil­i­ta­tion, includ­ing social and psy­cho­log­i­cal reha­bil­i­ta­tion and care, pae­di­atric ser­vices and med­i­cines, free from stigma and dis­crim­i­na­tion, and inten­si­fy­ing efforts to elim­i­nate ver­ti­cal trans­mis­sion and to develop and pro­vide early diag­no­sis tools, child-friendly med­i­cine com­bi­na­tions and new treat­ments for chil­dren, par­tic­u­larly for infants liv­ing in resource-lim­ited set­tings, and build­ing, where needed, and sup­port­ing social secu­rity sys­tems that pro­tect them.” (para­graph 14)

gender norms and stereotypes

• “Urges States to elim­i­nate all forms of sex­ual and gen­der-based vio­lence, includ­ing inti­mate part­ner vio­lence, by adopt­ing and enforc­ing laws, chang­ing gen­der stereo­types and neg­a­tive social norms, per­cep­tions and prac­tices, and pro­vid­ing tai­lored ser­vices that address mul­ti­ple and inter­sect­ing forms of dis­crim­i­na­tion and vio­lence faced by women liv­ing with, at risk of or affected by HIV.” (para­graph 13)

positive legal determinants

• “Calls upon States to end impunity for human rights vio­la­tions and abuses against per­sons liv­ing with, at risk of or affected by HIV by mean­ing­fully engag­ing and ensur­ing access to jus­tice for them, pro­vid­ing legal lit­er­acy pro­grammes, increas­ing their access to legal sup­port and rep­re­sen­ta­tion, and expand­ing sen­si­ti­za­tion train­ing for judges, law enforce­ment offi­cers, health-care work­ers, social work­ers and other duty bear­ers.” (para­graph 9)

universal health coverage

• “Urges States to accel­er­ate the inte­gra­tion of HIV ser­vices into uni­ver­sal health cov­er­age and resilient health and social pro­tec­tion sys­tems, and to ensure full and unim­peded access for all per­sons liv­ing with, pre­sumed to be liv­ing with, at risk of or affected by HIV, includ­ing key pop­u­la­tions, to HIV pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port, in a pub­lic health envi­ron­ment free from dis­crim­i­na­tion, harass­ment or per­se­cu­tion against those seek­ing HIV-related ser­vices, while respect­ing and pro­tect­ing their right to pri­vacy, con­fi­den­tial­ity and free and informed con­sent.” (para­graph 5)

societal enablers

• “Requests the United Nations High Com­mis­sioner for Human Rights to pre­pare a report, in con­sul­ta­tion with Gov­ern­ments, civil soci­ety, com­mu­nity-led orga­ni­za­tions and other stake­hold­ers, describ­ing the action being taken and rec­om­mend­ing action to be inten­si­fied or ini­ti­ated to meet the inno­v­a­tive tar­gets on soci­etal enablers, as rec­og­nized in the Polit­i­cal Dec­la­ra­tion on HIV and AIDS adopted by the Gen­eral Assem­bly in 2021, and to address the remain­ing gaps, and to present the report to the Human Rights Coun­cil at its fifti­eth ses­sion.” (para­graph 31)