University of Zambia Medical Library

Children's Rights in a World with HIV/AIDS (1997 World AIDS Campaign)

Children infected, children affected and children vulnerable to HIV infection:
Children who are infected with HIV are often discriminated against, for example, through denial or limitations of their rights to education, health and social services, as a result of inadequate or inaccessible health services, treatment, care, education and social programmes. The quality of life for children infected with HIV is often negatively affected by societal and family abandonment and rejection, with some children being forced to live on the streets and support themselves through such means as selling commercial sex.

A dramatic difference exists between rich and poor countries in the length of time a child infected with HIV can survive. Drugs to treat HIV infection and other diseases that occur due to the weakened immune system of the child are often not available in poor countries. In addition, the mistaken belief that any sickness in a presumed or confirmed HIV-infected child is due to HIV infection may result in simple treatment of infectious or other curable diseases being denied by health providers or not sought after by family members.

Children affected by HIV/AIDS often suffer from the effects of the epidemic on their close or extended families and their communities. A devastating impact on children is when their immediate family environment and support system is challenged through the sickness, disability and premature death from AIDS of one or both of their parents. Then, of course, children may be affected because of the reduced ability of infected parents and extended families to sustain their livelihoods and to care for them: they may be removed from their homes, have to leave school to care for their families, or have to work or live on the streets. In addition, the structures and services that exist for their benefit are often strained by the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For example, in countries that are severely affected, the loss of health professionals and the magnitude of the burden of HIV/AIDS on health and social systems that are already lacking in resources, can become overwhelming.

In a world with AIDS, there are children who are infected with HIV and those who are affected by the epidemic's intrusion into their families or communities. The epidemic, however, casts its biggest shadow on the hundreds of millions of uninfected children who face a lifetime risk of HIV infection as they grow into adulthood. Vulnerability to HIV infection concerns the extent to which individuals are born, grow, and become sexually active in a world which has added the risk of acquiring HIV infection to their lives. The less individuals are able to make free and informed decisions about their lives the more vulnerable they are to acquiring HIV infection. Governments' responsibility in this regard extends to fulfilling the rights of children such as to information, education and services, as well as paying attention to the circumstances that make them especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Children have a right to be better informed and better protected in a world with HIV/AIDS. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations in 1989, and ratified by almost every country in the world, specifies the human rights to which all children are entitled. The four guiding principles of the Convention - the best interests of the child, non-discrimination, survival and development, and participation - are the lens through which realization of all rights in it are to be analyzed and evaluated. The rights contained in the Convention include the right to protection from influences that are harmful to development, the right to participation in family, cultural and social life, the right to education, health and social welfare support, the right to a name and nationality, to freedom of expression, to participation in decisions affecting the child's well-being, and to protection from discrimination on any grounds including sex, disability, race or minority status, as well as protection from sexual and other forms of exploitation. A key underlying advance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the legal recognition of the child as a complete individual with an identity distinct from that of parents or legal guardians.

Governments that ratify the Convention are responsible under international human rights law for respecting, protecting and fulfilling all of the rights set forth in the Convention. Governments must report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child within two years after ratification and every five years thereafter on their successes and failures in implementing each of the rights contained in the Convention. The Committee then monitors the degree to which governments are meeting their obligations with particular emphasis on the well-being of children and families. Much work remains to be done by governments, NGOs, and intergovernmental agencies to improve the quality of country-level information contained in these reports, as well as the level of analysis and follow-up occurring during and after the report's consideration by the Committee.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child can be understood to provide a blueprint for reducing the vulnerability of children to HIV and for the design of effective HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care strategies consistent with human rights norms.

Based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the following standards should be established and affirmed for children living in a world with HIV/AIDS:

• Children have a right to survival and development. Therefore, realization of all rights must be protected from the impact of HIV/AIDS.
• Children have a right to information and opportunities to develop life skills. Therefore, children should have access to HIV/AIDS prevention education, information and the means for prevention, including attention to the ability to negotiate safer sex practices.
• Children have a right to a safe and supportive environment free from exploitation and abuse. Therefore, special measures should be taken by governments to prevent and minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS caused by such factors as sexual abuse and trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual exploitation, use of illicit drugs, and harmful traditional practices.
• Children have a right to be protected from discrimination and exploitation, irrespective of their HIV/AIDS status or that of members of their families. No discrimination should be suffered by children on any grounds, including in education, leisure, recreational, sports, and cultural activities because of their HIV/AIDS status. Children have a right to access health and social services on an equitable basis, irrespective of their HIV/AIDS status or that of members of their families. All infected children should be provided with adequate HIV/AIDS treatment and care. Attention must be paid to ensure that orphans receive adequate support services.
• Children have a right to be heard and to have their aspirations and needs reflected in decisions affecting their future.

Strengthening children's rights to enhance HIV prevention and care:
Children's rights are human rights - the general protection of human rights includes special attention to children in such areas as sexual exploitation and abuse, and the promotion of their rights among others to information, education, health and social services. This is critical to enhance HIV prevention and care strategies and to reduce the impact of AIDS on children, families and communities. A stronger commitment is needed worldwide to improve policies and increase action that promote and protect the rights of children living in a world with AIDS.

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Last updated November 30, 1997

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