When is language key?

In short: Lan­guage is key when it is sub­ject to oppo­si­tion despite being nec­es­sary for evi­dence-based and rights-affirm­ing responses to the HIV epi­demic

This Com­pendium’s focus lan­guage com­prises the con­stel­la­tion of terms and con­cepts that under­pin evi­dence-based and rights-affirm­ing responses to the global HIV epi­demic and related sex­ual and repro­duc­tive health chal­lenges. From among these terms and con­cepts, we have defined the key lan­guage which has been and is sub­ject to con­tes­ta­tion in the nego­ti­a­tion, inter­pre­ta­tion and imple­men­ta­tion of inter­na­tional agree­ments.

By sub­stan­ti­at­ing key lan­guage, this Com­pendium intends to (1) pro­vide a bul­wark against efforts to reverse the tide of progress by weak­en­ing lan­guage in future mul­ti­lat­eral nego­ti­a­tions and agree­ments, and (2) sup­port efforts to trans­late related com­mit­ments into norms into national law and pol­icy.

This Com­pendium will be extended iter­a­tively to encom­pass more key lan­guage. Sadly, the oppo­si­tion to evi­dence-based and rights-affirm­ing responses is such that the list of cru­cial lan­guage under dis­pute is long and grow­ing. If you have sug­ges­tions on terms and con­cepts we should include, please reach out to us at pol­i­cy­lab@george­town.edu.

Terms we have deemed key so far