Inputs from UNDP Swaziland

Dear Colleagues,

This e-discussion and questions posed comes at a time where the government of Swaziland has pledged to establish a commission on human rights and public administration, which has been mandated by the 2006 constitution. The functions of this commission include 'investigate complaints concerning alleged violations of fundamental rights and freedoms under this constitution'. In the context of how UN HR machinery can be made more useful for development programming, I think that more emphasis can be made on the links between poverty and human rights, and that although we know that increased violations of human rights often coincide with a deterioration in socio-economic conditions, there doesn't seem to be the interchange between those organizations expressly working on issues of human rights, and those working in the area of development.

To provide a more concrete example, the UN system is Swaziland is grappling with the pervasive stigma against HIV+ individuals. This is especially true for women, who are afraid to reveal their status to the partners and families for fear of being abandoned, disowned, stripped of assets/social status and literally thrown into the street. The fear of one's HIV status being revealed has entailed that many pregnant women, although having tested HIV positive, have refused to enroll for follow up treatment ante/post-natal treatment (PMTCT) that could reduce the possibilities of their children being infected. Although seemingly illogical, it is the fear of being exposed and the heavy weight of stigma that forces women into this predicament. To address this basic human right, the right to live in dignity and free of discrimination, it presumes that individuals, in this case women of Swaziland, have the economic wherewithal (i.e. livelihoods that allow them to be economically independent) to care for themselves and their children and also access services and resources available to HIV+ members of society.

Unfortunately, we (the UN system) haven't done a sterling job of integrating these issues. One way forward would be to develop HIV Impact Assessment tools (in the same manner as the Environmental Impact Assessment tools) where we could look at those groups who are most at risk (such as young women aged 15-29, geographical areas where there are high rates of HIV prevalence, or heads of families where a spouse has died due to AIDS or an HIV related infection, etc.) and integrate information into investment and/or livelihood creation schemes. This would expand the concept of human rights, so that HR is not seen from merely a conceptual mechanism that is often detached from the very real challenges faced by the most marginalized, to incorporating HR into the economic and financial decision making processes that often bear ultimate responsibility for the most egregious human rights violations.

Neil Boyer
Deputy Resident Representative
UNDP/Swaziland