The Constitution of Kenya (2010) sets standards that all laws and policies must conform with. It outlaws discrimination on the basis of one’s health status and guarantees the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Despite the foregoing provisions, there still exist punitive laws and policies that hinder the access and provision of health services to PLHIV. There is need to challenge the existence of these laws to have them either repealed or amended. To achieve this, there is need for all actors in the HIV sector to be involved in governance and the legislative processes.
With support from the Commonwealth Foundation, KELIN will conduct atraining for representatives of select Civil Society Organizations, Community Based Organizations, networks of PLHIV, Health Care Workers, widows and elders. The training will focus on the link between HIV, Human Rights, Governance and legislative processes. The participants will be drawn from Bungoma,Homa Bay, Kakamega and Kisumu Counties.
The training, which will take place from 11th to 13th March, 2014 in Kisumu is aimed at enhancing the participants’ knowledge on HIV, Human Rights, and related laws &policies, with a view of strengthening their capacity to engage in both national and county legislative processes on issues that affect HIV treatment, prevention and control.
Experts from the medical, legal and human rights spheres that have vast experience on issues of HIV, Human Rights, the legislative process and participatory governance shall facilitate.The participants will be taken through medical updates and statistics, the link between HIV, the Law and Human Rights and the punitive laws that hinder the access and provision of services to PLHIV. They will also be taken through the legislation and governance processes and how to get involved.
