A Commonwealth of the People: Time for Urgent Reform - The Report of the Eminent Persons Group to Commonwealth Heads of Government

At the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, an Eminent Person’s Group (EPG) was created to advise the Heads of Government of Commonwealth Nations on reform of the Commonwealth association, furthered by an EPG mandate to advise how to achieve it. The report provides such advice on a number of subjects, including HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is a focus because, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), many Commonwealth countries are facing urgent challenges from the HIV epidemic. “Commonwealth countries comprise over 30% of the world’s population and over 60% of the people living with HIV reside in Commonwealth states.”

The thrust of the HIV section of the report is that AIDS is a human rights issue, and work towards achieving the health-related United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals, including universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care, deserves increased attention.

The report discusses the decreased aid available through the Global Fun Against AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis, as well as new criteria that may disqualify certain vulnerable countries' access to the fund. Therefore, the report recommends that the Commonwealth “mount a high-level initiative in the relevant United Nations (UN) bodies to advocate a review of these new criteria which, if applied, would serve only to intensify the epidemic.”

In addition, the authors urge advocacy to eliminate social and legal impediments to prevention strategies. This may include addressing certain criminal laws in Commonwealth countries that penalise adult consensual private conduct including between people of the same sex. Evidence cited in the report indicates that the number of HIV cases can be reduced by repealing such laws because it facilitates outreach to individuals and groups at heightened risk of infection.

Other strategic communication and advocacy recommendations to keep this issue in focus include the following:

• The Secretary-General should ensure that HIV/AIDS is prominent in the agendas of all relevant Commonwealth meetings (law ministers, health ministers, women’s affairs ministers, and youth ministers) to determine and prioritise on-going measures for Commonwealth governments and international mobilisation efforts;
• The Secretary-General should be authorised to work with UN bodies to develop joint programmes with private sector organisations inside and outside the Commonwealth for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.  
• The Secretary-General should be authorised to mount a high-level mission to UN bodies to advocate a review of any criteria that may disqualify vulnerable developing countries from gaining access to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS.
• Heads of Government should take steps to repeal discriminatory laws that impede effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and they should commit to education and awareness campaigns that would help a process to repeal such laws.
• Heads of Government should consider the implications of global intellectual property laws for Commonwealth countries that face the HIV/AIDS epidemic. They should ensure protection of the flexibilities provided in the Trade and Intellectual Property Service Agreements (TRIPS) regarding any new bilateral free trade agreements.

Overall, the EPG noted that HIV/AIDS is "so massively damaging to the health of millions of Commonwealth people and to the economies of Commonwealth countries that member states must take national action even as they work together in the international community to influence global measures to tackle the problem…"