URU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 175: Opfølgning på virtuel briefing den 14. maj 2020 ved UNDP’s regionale direktør for Afrika om den aktuelle situation og håndtering af COVID-19 i Afrika syd for Sahara

Udenrigsudvalget 2019-20
URU Alm.del Bilag 175
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Quick information for Members of Parliament in Denmark

–

UNDP

Africa (HIV, Health & Development) Team 15 May 2020

O e ie of UNDP s o k i Af i a o HIV/AIDS a d the i pa t of

COVID-19

O e ie of UNDP s HIV, Health & De elop e t Wo k i Af i a



UNDP in currently working in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa supporting national

governments and civil society organisations, as well as the African continental and regional

entities (the AUC, ACHPR, EAC, the SADC and SADC-Parliamentary Forum and the

WAHO/ECOWAS) to ensure a

human-rights based approach

to HIV, TB and malaria

interventions with a focus on key and vulnerable populations (including with sex workers, men

who have sex with men, LGBTIQ people, people who use drugs and incarcerated groups). This

work is funded primarily through bilateral donors. In addition, UNDP has just launched an

I lusi e Go e a e I itiati e fo used o LGBTQI people a d thei hu a ights i su

Saharan Africa.

UNDP s ole i the UN Joi t P og a

e o HIV a d AIDS UNAIDS fo uses o HIV p e e tio

among key populations together with UNFPA; supporting Investment and efficiency of HIV

related investments together with the World Bank, and ensuring programmes address Human

rights, stigma and discrimination focusing on legal and policy reform, access to justice and

rights; and elimination of HIV health-care stigma and discrimination. This is supported by the

UNAIDS UBRAF Funding mechanism.

In addition, UNDP supports the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) programmes in

Africa as Principal Recipient for 11 grants in 7 countries;

has grants for supporting the Country

Coordinating Mechanisms in Sao Tome et Principe and Zimbabwe; has financing agreements for

procurement and supply chain management in 5 countries;

an agreement with Gavi in Zambia

for health systems strengthening support; and

Solar for Health

project in 7 countries.

Finally UNDP supports through a number of global projects/interventions, in collaboration with

the WHO, the FCTC and other partners on working in several African countries on elimination of

tobacco use, universal health coverage, understanding modalities to tackle non-communicable

diseases, ensuring sustainable procurement for health (supplies, waste management, energy

needs etc.), and for increased access to newer health technologies.



Quick overview on the impact of COVID-19

o UNDP s o k elated to HIV a d AIDS a d Ke

and Vulnerable Populations



Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in several African countries, UNDP Headquarters,

regional bureaux and country offices have been at the forefront of providing emergency support

in terms of setting up support based on the 3 pillars: resilient health systems including health

Angola, Burundi, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Zimbabwe

Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique & Zambia

Angola, Namibia, South Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Chad and Liberia

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URU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 175: Opfølgning på virtuel briefing den 14. maj 2020 ved UNDP’s regionale direktør for Afrika om den aktuelle situation og håndtering af COVID-19 i Afrika syd for Sahara

procurement support; addressing socio-economic impacts of COVID-19; and inclusive and multi-

sectoral crisis management and response to COVID-19.



As pa t of this o k, UNDP s Af i a tea ha e ee p o idi g di e t suppo t to ou t ies i

responding to the epidemic, and at the same time corresponding with its partners and civil

society organisations to understand the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on people affected

with or at higher risk of HIV, including people living with HIV, LGBTIQ+ groups and key

populations.

Examples of oppression and challenges to freedom for LGBTQI+ people



Accountability International

a UNDP partner has already published a series of online notes on

this issue and how it affects LGBTQI and key and vulnerable populations. They report that

Communities such as the

LGBTIQ

community that are already marginalized and vulnerable due

to a range of factors including poverty and discrimination, now face further challenges during

the pandemic; many are in fact rendered even more at-risk due to the response of authorities

under emergency regulations. A now well-known example is that on

29 March on the outskirts of

Kampala, Uganda, when the police raided a shelter and arrested 14 gay men,

four transgender

women, and two bisexual men, charging them with breaking social distancing rules (set at a

maximum of 10 people and since reduced to five); equal rights campaigners have countered that

the arrests were motivated by homophobia and transphobia and not the emergency

regulations.

It also epo ts that the e

is alarming silence on sexual and gender based violence

and LGBTIQ+ people

f o the Af i a Heads of States

communique

of 3

April 2020 related to

their teleconference.

AI reports:

African Heads of State have been largely silent on the looming

threats, despite the dire warnings from the UN and civil society for government to put special

measures in place that protect women, girls, and LGBTIQ people. For example, an African Union

(AU) Bureau of Heads of State and Government communiqué on the African response does not

mention SGBV or gender once, nor does it speak to concerns about the effects of restrictive

movement measures on these vulnerable and marginalized groups.

One of the challenges for LGBTQI people, particularly in African countries

–

many of which

continue to criminalise adult same sex relations

–

is their inability, in time of COVID-19 to seek

a d e jo o

u al spa es hi h a e a lifeli e fo a LGBTIQ+ folk. As

Muthoni Ngige

Minority Women in Action (MWA) Kenya mentioned in an interview, virtual safe spaces are

o i g e i po ta t fo LGBTQI+ people to egai thei o

u it li es as the ho e is

ot a safe spa e fo ost LGBTIQ+ folk . She ho e e a ed that safet fo thei e e s

continues to be high priority even in virtual spaces which are rife with homophobia and slut-

shaming.

There are additional reports that queer and LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers from African

ou t ies too a e ha d hit the lo kdo

a d losu e of i te atio al t a el as a esult of the

COVID-19 pandemic. Poignant tales of loss of hope due to abrupt closure of international travel

and challenges faced by queers to seek livelihoods and maintain social distancing in cramped

quarters have been reported by the online portal

New Frame.

Concerns have further been raised by queer activists of the challenge that COVID-19 brings in

terms of enforcing conservative viewpoints and practice. An online site for opinions and new

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

writings,

Africa is a Country

reports that for example, in Senegal, gay people are being

threatened into heterosexual marriages by their families during this time,

a d sa s that

COVID-

19 does not only threaten the social fabric of society. It can also fuel the opposite—a tightening

of o trol o er people s eha ior, i order to perpetuate a o ser ati e so ial order.

Examples of rights violations and oppression targeting key and vulnerable populations



Reports from

Kenya

also point at eviction of female sex workers from their towns and places of

eside e o e fea s of sp eadi g COVID-19 . A epo t f o a lo al

newspaper

says that local

leade s e pelled se o ke s ho ope ate alo g the To o o-Mbale

highway accusing them of

aiding the spreading of Covid-19

. Si ila i ide ts ha e also o e to light f o

Uganda

where

local sex workers have reported not only restriction and limitation of their work, but also report

increased violence faced from clients when they have refused unsafe sexual services.

In April 21

, the

Kenyan

Daily Nation

reported that 24 sex workers had been arrested and were

to e ua a ti ed. This follo ed a aid he se u it offi ials at E ali to ship a ested the ,

along with six of their clients, on Monday evening for violating State directives meant to combat

spread of Covid-19

In addition to arrests and forceful detentions, sex workers in

Kenya

have

appealed for COVID-19

support

and even initiated an emergency fund-raising drive. They complained that in addition to

being victims of violence and police harassment during curfews, they also faced the challenge of

transport to their friendly healthcare facilities. The

se o ke s allia e KESWA oted that Se

workers community faces challenges such as violation of health and human rights, lack of access

to health services and violence meted out on them by their clients, the public and law

e fo e e t offi e s a d oted that the go e

e t s est i ti e easu es ha e e o o i all

affected them.

statement

from the executive director of South African Network of People who Use Drugs

(SANPUD) highlights additional challenges people who use drugs face during COVID-19

lockdowns and curfews. The statement

highlights that

Marginalised, disenfranchised,

stig atised, a d othered o

u ities ill suffer disproportio ally,

a d sa s that fo PWUD

a d se o ke s, the e

is the added layer of criminalisation.

The state e t also highlights the

shortfall in se

i es fo PWUD as the

exorbitant price of methadone and other medicines

used to help resolve dependent use, the reluctance to support harm reduction services and

continued criminalisation have been barriers to expanding services.

To mitigate harm, SANPUD

has also put up an

online resource site on COVID-19

that the t ust to suppo t thei e e s

during the time of the pandemic.

In South Africa, a

press statement issued by a number of human rights organisations

have called

on the South African government to address the plight of sex workers during COVID-19 crisis in

the i te est of all South Af i a s . The state e t st o gl o de s the go e

e t sa i g:

Although the government has provided immediate financial and food aid to alleviate the

economic and other related impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, sex workers in South Africa

have been neglected. Discriminated against because of their illegal professions, sex workers

continue to be mistreated by social services and health care providers who deny them access to

food parcels and medical care.

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

o lusio : UNDP s support



Together with UNAIDS who are tracking all kinds of violations visited upon key populations and

LGBTI people in Africa, UNDP continues to engage with civil society and LGBTIQ+ organisations

in Africa to note, record and provide support wherever possible, to ensure that human rights

violations and reduction of access to services needed by LGBTIQ+ and key populations in times

of COVID-19 are maintained.

UNDP is pursuing these interventions through supporting UNDP country offices to repurpose

so e of thei UBRAF/UNAIDS fu di g

for providing support to LGBTIQ+ people, key populations

and prisoners continue to access HIV-related prevention and treatment as well as COVID-19

related precautions in their countries. Similar repurposing Global Funds where UNDP is a

principal recipient is also underway. Besides that UNDP has developed general guidance focused

on preventing human rights violations and prevention of gender-based violence in times of the

COVID-19 epidemic which are widely disseminated to countries to support efforts to prevent

stigma, discrimination, human rights violations in times of COVID-19.

End of note

--:o0o:--



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