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In the Foreword to Benjamin Mason Meier and Lawrence Gostin’s edited volume on human rights and international organisations, Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, writes that she first recognised the potential for human rights to contribute to public health in the response to AIDS.1
People living with and affected by HIV, and their allies, initially campaigned for rights-based approaches to confront stigma and discrimination. The AIDS movement demanded that their experiences and expertise were at the forefront of the response. ‘Nothing about us without us’ was a rallying cry of activists as they used the Greater Involvement of People living with AIDS principles to champion other rights-based norms including equity, transparency and accountability. Rights-based approaches included investment in legal literacy to empower marginalised communities to address social exclusion, inequalities and injustice and the strategic use of law to pressure governments and corporations to act with urgency. Initially the movement campaigned for individual civil and political rights (eg, privacy, non-discrimination) and with time encompassed economic and social rights (eg, addressing the structural drivers of vulnerability). At its core, the rights-based approach was a political project to race AIDS up agendas as well as enable people to reclaim their humanity and agency.2 Importantly, in 2001, the language of human rights was reflected in the United Nations General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: the monitoring framework, still implemented, includes rights. UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) technical support for countries’ periodic reports has been crucial.3
Many commentators credit the human rights framework as the bedrock of AIDS progress over the past four decades. Rights-based approaches have been similarly effective in global efforts to curb tobacco consumption and realise reproductive and sexual health. Although demanded by activists, creating an enabling legal environment and …