Providing knowledge and strengthening commitment for action are central tenets of the POLICY Project's mission. As a strong advocate for multisectoral responses to address HIV/AIDS, POLICY is answering the call to action. The project's HIV/AIDS work seeks to increase advocacy, encourage political and popular support, provide accurate and insightful information for decision making, and build the capacity of government and civil society partners.

Profiles of Policy Champions

• Breaking Through: Profiles of Individuals Challenging HIV-related Stigma and Promoting Human Rights Around the World
  POLICY (January, 2006)
  This document profiles 9 individuals-including people living with HIV and their allies from government, faith-based groups, and NGOs. It is our hope that readers will be inspired by the approaches and stories presented in this booklet. The individuals profiled represent a fraction of those who are confronting stigma and discrimination and promoting human rights. Their stories reflect the dedication and spirit of countless others who are working toward enabling environments that support the inclusion of people living with HIV and vulnerable groups and that foster effective, just responses to the epidemic.

Exploring Key Concepts

• Breaking the Cycle: Stigma, Discrimination, Internal Stigma, and HIV
  Ken Morrison (January, 2006)
  This paper reviews the present understanding of HIV-related stigma and discrimination as they relate to vulnerability, and suggests approaches for stigma reduction. It explores and examines what constitutes HIV-related stigma and discrimination, what effects they have on behavior and HIV responses, and what we can do to reduce them.
   
• A Closer Look: The Internalization of Stigma Related to HIV
  Pierre Brouard and Caroline Wills (January, 2006)
  Internal stigma is the product of the internalization of shame, blame, hopelessness, guilt, and fear of discrimination associated with being HIV positive. It can affect caregivers and family members, who also may internalize feelings of shame, guilt, or fear. Internal stigma can have a profound effect on HIV prevention, treatment, and care. This document explores the difference between internal and external stigma, the contributing factors, and potential ways of addressing stigma, including indicators and steps to empowerment.
   
• Stigma Resource Pack
  POLICY, University of Pretoria Centre for the Study of AIDS (April 2006)
  As a result of its experiences in working with HIV/AIDS stigma, the Siyam?kela Project felt it would be useful to develop a Stigma Resource Pack (SRP) to create awareness about stigma and inform stigma mitigation efforts.
   
• Stigma, Scale-up, and Treatment Governance: Stumbling Block or Window of Opportunity
  David Stephens (January, 2006)
  Recent international initiatives reflect, and are responding to, a worldwide movement for greater access and equity in HIV-related treatment. The new millennium has witnessed growing support from the global community to increase access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for those most in need. The global shift in support for treatment access, coupled with declining drug prices and the availability of generic drugs, has led many in the field to recognize that the barrier to treatment is no longer simply a matter of financial resources. This paper seeks to define treatment governance and address the roles that stigma and discrimination and the greater involvement of people with AIDS play in the policies and programs that are designed in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

POLICY's Stigma Mitigation Initiatives

• Siyam'kela Project
   
• Mo Kexteya Project

Other Related Publications

• Challenging, Changing, and Mobilizing: A Guide to PLHIV Involvement in Country Coordinating Mechanisms
  POLICY, GNP+, GTZ (January, 2005)
  Russian version
   
• From Despair to Hope: Women's Right to Own and Inherit Property
  POLICY Project/Kenya and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (December, 2005)
   
• Guidelines for Improving CCMs Through Greater PLHIV Involvement
  POLICY, GNP+ and GTZ (November, 2004) Russian language version
  Thai language version
  Vietnamese language version
   
• Guidelines on Employment, HIV/AIDS, and Human Rights in Zambia
  Chuulu, Chileshe, Mtamira, and MacMillan (August, 2001)
   
• The Heart of the Matter: Findings from a Study on the Greater Involvement of People with HIV/AIDS in Nepal
  POLICY and the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control, Nepal (November, 2004)
   
• HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: A Legislative Audit
  POLICY Project (March, 2004)
   
• Implementing GIPA: How USAID Missions and their Implementing Partners in Five Asian Countries Are Fostering Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS
  Pablo Magaz and Karen Hardee (January, 2004)
   
• International Law, National Policy and Legislation for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS and Protection of Human Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam
  Vietnamese Research Centre for Human Rights; Ho Chi Minh National Political Academy (November, 2003)
   
• Men Who Have Sex With Men in Cambodia: HIV/AIDS Vulnerability, Stigma and Discrimination
  Kha Sovannarra and Chris Ward (January, 2004)
   
• Moving Forward: Operationalising GIPA in Vietnam
  POLICY (October, 2003)
   
• Out of the Shadows: Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) in Policy (Working Series Paper No. 14)
  David Stephens (October, 2004)
   
• Steps to Empowerment: Challenges to the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV in the Response to AIDS in Cambodia
  S. Paxton (June, 2005)
   
• Voices for Equality and Dignity: Qualitative Research on Stigma and Discrimination Issues as They Affect PLWHA in Malawi
  Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (July, 2003)