LocationsEnsuring equitable access to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health and rights for young key populations
August 28, 2024
Representatives from young key populations communities speak on a panel at the Second Multisectoral Regional Meeting on Ensuring Equitable Access to HIV Prevention and SRHR of Young Key Populations.
Key stakeholders from Angola, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe convened recently in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a regional meeting focused on advancing equitable access to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for young key populations (YKPs).
Organized by UNDP through the #WeBelongAfrica programme, the 12-14 June 2024 meeting brought together 50 representatives including decision-makers from government and statutory institutions in the health, justice, gender and youth sectors; representatives of YKP organizations and networks; and staff from UNDP country and regional offices.
Over the last decade, the combined effort of governments, communities and development partners within the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has resulted in significant achievements in reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, as well as in improving access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in general. Despite this significant progress, however, East and Southern Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV, with 20.6 million people living with HIV in the region – 54 percent of all people living with HIV in the world. There continue to be alarming disparities, with some sections of the community, such as young people and key populations, disproportionately affected by HIV and continuing to experience poor access and adherence to SRH services.
In response to these ongoing challenges, UNDP’s #WeBelongAfrica programme is supporting decision-makers in key sectors – health, justice, gender and youth – to develop inclusive, rights-based and enabling frameworks to protect and promote the SRHR of YKPs.
A young key population representative from Zambia makes an intervention on the importance of inclusion of marginalized groups in policy and legal reform processes.
In 2023, the #WeBelongAfrica programme convened government decision-makers from the five sectors to support multi-sectoral action at the country level. A key output was the development of country-level roadmaps for sector-specific and cross-sectoral collaboration.
This year’s meeting focused on reviewing progress and challenges in advancing the SRHR of YKPs, engaging sectors in awareness-raising and capacity building, enhancing evidence building and data collection, and fostering collaboration between government and civil society on key SRHR issues. It also emphasized the importance of inclusion in decision-making and reaffirmed commitments to implementing priority actions with civil society partners to promote HIV and SRHR for YKPs in 2024 and beyond.
“This meeting marks a significant step in the ongoing effort to create inclusive, rights-based frameworks that support the health and well-being of these vulnerable groups in Southern Africa,” said Mesfin Getahun, Policy Specialist, HIV and Health Group, UNDP, in opening remarks.
The recently released publication, Strengthening Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Young Key Populations in Law and Policy: A Handbook for Decision-Makers, a practical guide developed by UNDP that promotes the inclusion and SRHR of YKPs in laws, policies, strategies, plans and decision-making processes, served as a resource for the meeting.
In a session on awareness-raising, sensitization and capacity strengthening, countries reported progress in integrating issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and SRHR into training sessions and noted an increase in public visibility of YKP rights champions. Key lessons learned included the importance of continuous, institutionalized training within curricula (such as for law enforcement personnel and health care workers), the effectiveness of bringing YKP and decision-makers together for sensitization, and the need to extend lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) and YKP issues into broader youth, gender and human rights movements.
A session on evidence building and data collection shared specific methodologies and tools used to build evidence on stigma, discrimination, violence and legal and policy frameworks affecting the SRHR of YKPs. Participants reflected on their country experiences implementing legal environment assessments, human rights assessments, gender assessments, baseline studies, strategic options papers, stigma index studies and community-led monitoring, and noted the importance of partnerships between governments and the inclusion of YKP in strengthening research and data collection.
Participants also discussed strategies for collaboration between government sectors and civil society to address the legal, human rights- and gender-related barriers to access to SRHR for transgender, intersex people and sex workers. Sex workers are at high risk for HIV and decriminalization of sex work remains a priority, as criminalization leads to punitive policing, stigma, discrimination, violence and violations of rights. Transgender and intersex people face high levels of stigma, discrimination, gender-based violence and punitive laws and practices that hinder access to SRHR, including lack of legal gender recognition for trans people, forced medical treatment of intersex young people, and harmful laws that criminalize gender identity and expression.
Priority strategies for country-level action include advocacy and strategic litigation to review and repeal punitive laws to establish enabling legal frameworks; combatting violence and discrimination through sensitizing the police, law and policy makers, and service providers and through engaging in community dialogues and media sensitization; improving access to gender-affirming health care; building evidence on human rights violations; and supporting movement-building. The African Commission’s Resolutions 275 and 552 were highlighted as critical frameworks protecting the rights of transgender and intersex people.
The collaborative efforts discussed over the three days highlight the importance of multi-sectoral action, continuous capacity building, and evidence-based advocacy in driving progress. Moving forward, the insights gained and the strategies outlined will serve as a foundation for refocusing country roadmaps to build on achievements, respond to lessons learned and incorporate priorities for action, strengthening partnerships and scaling up interventions that protect and promote the health and rights of vulnerable groups across Southern Africa.
#WeBelongAfrica is a regional initiative that integrates two UNDP-led projects: the Inclusive Governance Initiative (IGI) and the Southern Africa Young Key Populations Inclusion Initiative. The IGI is supported by Sweden and the Southern Africa Young Key Populations Inclusion Initiative is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Mozambique.
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