Senior Prisons Officers to Benefit from a Rights Based Management of HIV and TB Training

In an attempt to reduce HIV and TB prevalence in prison settings, KELIN has been working closely with the Kenya Prisons Service-AIDS Control Unit and other stakeholders to address this. Two key meetings have taken place in July 2013 and July 2014 on the basis of two meetings. The two meetings recommended the need to have a dialogue at different levels that would allow the police officers and prison officials to have open deliberations on the issues affecting each of their sectors in the context of HIV and TB.

It is from this background that KELIN in partnership with the Kenya Prisons Service with support from UNDP-Kenya will carry out a capacity building workshop with senior prisons officers on rights based management of HIV and TB in prisons from 15 to 17 October, 2014 in Nairobi County.

The meeting will provide a platform for candid discussions for senior prison officials to discuss their role in preventing new HIV and TB infections and ensuring those infected are accessing treatment. It will also be an opportunity to enhance a common understanding of the challenges likelimited data regarding HIV prevalence and risk factors in the prison population that exist and opportunities in promoting access to quality health care services in prisons.The key areas of focus during the meeting will be:

• The provisions for an effective, sustainable response to HIV and TB in prisons that is consistent with Constitutional and international human rights obligations.
• Awareness on sexual and gender based violence, exploitation and all forms of victimization in prison especially among women.
• The role of prisons officers in upholding the rights of person living with HIV and TB with an emphasis on members of key and affected populations and women living with HIV.

We hope that the engagement will increase the awareness levels of the senior prison officials on the role of the law in dealing with the difficult issues posed by HIV and TB in the context of prison, enhance commitment to implement measures to protect and address sexual gender based violence in prisons, buy in from the prison officers on specific proposals to advance rights based and evidence informed HIV and TB interventions that have worked in achieving the universal goal of zero new infections.

To contribute to the discussions during the forum, follow KELIN on our social media platforms for the latest updates;
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