UNDP praises HIV legal service in SW China

A social organization in Yunnan Province has been praised for promoting access to justice by providing legal services to those with HIV/AIDS.

Addressing a workshop held by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Daytop Legal Service Project in the provincial capital on Wednesday, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator Rebecca Grynspan said Daytop's practice "is an example of a social organization providing HIV legal aid to affected communities."

Yunnan has the highest prevalence of HIV in China, with more than 80,000 reported cases and a large hidden epidemic in the province, according to UNDP statistics.

However, HIV-related stigma and discrimination remains a significant barrier for an effective response to HIV and AIDS.

No specific provisions have been made for providing legal aid in HIV-related cases in the country. Unfortunately, many people suffering from the disease lack the awareness of defending themselves with legal tools, according to Pei Hongye, UNDP project officer.

"At present, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are the main source of legal assistance to HIV carriers and AIDS patients," she pointed out.

Established in 1998 in Kunming, Daytop Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center is the first facility in the country to provide psycho-social and preventative care to fully rehabilitate drug users.

Growing demand prompted Daytop to start providing legal aid services in 2009 to many of its HIV clients who needed legal counselling, mediation and representation in court cases.

UNDP joined in the project three months ago to ensure the sustainability of its HIV legal services by advocating for official recognition and access to state and legal aid from the government.

It is expected that the project will explore a NGO-led HIV legal service model that is complementary to government-run legal aid services.

Daytop's community-based model offers core services, including legal information and referral, legal advice and representation. Additional services cover rights education, legal research, monitoring, law reform and advocacy activities, according to Chen Hailong, the project manager.

By the end of June this year, Daytop had offered legal services to 224 clients. Among them, 62 percent were injecting drug users, 32 percent were people living with HIV/AIDS, and the rest were homosexual men, according to a draft report jointly issued by Daytop and UNDP on Friday.

So far, the service has been applied in two employment cases -- one was a labor dispute that went through arbitration proceedings in 2010, and the other involved a teacher who was refused employment due to his HIV status recently.

"Daytop's experience has shown that for HIV regulations to be implemented effectively, they will need the expertise and involvement of partners, not only in the public health sector but also in the judiciary and civil affairs agencies," said Rebecca Grynspan.

Many civil societies are doing an incredible job as they are closer to people and the service delivery is easier, according to her.

"If the government and civil society can find the synergies and work with each other, that will be perfect," she said.

In late November, Vice Premier Li Keqiang hailed HIV/AIDS NGOs as an indispensable, special force, and vowed the government will pay greater attention to the voice of such organizations.

Li's remarks have encouraged Pei based on UNDP's convening power -- which is a guarantee of calling in more partners and resources to improve HIV legal services.

UNDP's future plan of assisting the project development include introducing university-led field research, providing legislative recommendations, enhancing publicity, and promoting participants from civil societies.

"We hope Daytop's experience can offer a reference to the future studies on NGO-led HIV legal aid in other parts of China," said Pei.