8th ICAAP: Legal reform unlikely in Myanmar
HDN Key Correspondent
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[Mods note: The report below is a part of the on-line conference coverage provided by The Key Correspondent Team coordinated by Health & Development Networks (HDN) during the ongoing 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Colombo, Sri Lanka (19-23 August 2007). Thanks]
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Many were inspired by the ICAAP address of South African Justice Edwin Cameron. But is Asia the right place to test out Cameron’s theories about provider-recommended HIV testing and legal reforms?
Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia all have military governments or weak legal systems or both, and Myanmar raises some especially unique challenges.
A military government (in one form or another) has ruled the country for almost fifty years. In order to expand the AIDS response it is essential to first create a space for civil society to participate.
During the session “Responding to AIDS in Myanmar – Foundation for universal access” we heard that the space for local non-governmental and community-based organisations is very limited. One person living with HIV was brave enough to point out that it was difficult for people with the virus to organise as their groups are not officially registered with the government. This also restricts their access to external funding.
Other groups find that local administrations close down their activities. Any meeting of over five people is seen as ‘suspect’. The only recommendation to these groups from the governmental representative at the session was that they formally register, a process that can take years to complete.
What hope is there of legal reform to create the space for local action by civil society? There are no elections, no political parties allowed to act, no independent judiciary, and no protests. For now we can expect little change, and in such an environment –which contrasts markedly with that of South Africa – progress will inevitably be slow.
HDN Key Correspondent
Website: www.TheCorrespondent.org
Email: info@thecorrespondent.org
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