Publications

In 2017, key populations (KP) and their sexual partners accounted for approximately 40% of new HIV infections globally (UNAIDS, 2018). A range of policy and legal barriers and harmful social dynamics increase the HIV vulnerability of KP and undermine their access to HIV and other services. The criminalization of sex between men, sex work, drug use and HIV transmission, as well as high rates of incarceration, homophobia, trans phobia, violence and social marginalization, all serve to influence risk practices and undermine access to services. People from key populations often migrate to cities in search of safer and more secure communities (UNAIDS, UN Habitat 2015). Women in key populations face specific challenges and barriers, including gender-based violence (GBV) and poorly tailored services. These factors further intensify their vulnerability to HIV.

The aim of this guide is to familiarize civil society to the Outcome Document of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem (UNGASS 2016) and highlight the potential for civil society participation in the implementation of the operational recommendations and their respective Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The guide uses examples from UNODC’s work and from NGOs around the world to demonstrate how they support the implementation of these international commitments related to drugs – in order to make the UNGASS Outcome Document and the SDGs easily understandable for civil society organizations on the ground, and to demonstrate the linkages between them.

Drug markets are evolving at unprecedented speed. The range of substances and combinations available to users has never been wider, and the amounts produced have never been greater. Cultivation and manufacturing of heroin and cocaine have reached record highs, synthetic drugs continue to expand, and the market for new psychoactive substances (NPS) remains widely diversified with a growing interplay with traditional drug markets. The non-medical use of regulated prescription drugs (either diverted from licit channels or illicitly manufactured) is becoming a major threat: in addition to the ongoing opioid epidemic in North America, there are signs of an opioid epidemic due to the non-medical use of tramadol in North and sub Saharan Africa, as well as in the Middle East. Drug-related deaths are on the rise. At the same time, access to controlled drugs for medical purposes remains a dramatic problem in most lowand middle-income countries.

The WHO had received notification of 32 cases of urethral fistula following male circumcision (MC) procedures performed in voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) between 2014 and 2018. While such adverse events are rare, this technical brief provides information to improve practice. This brief is based on the information from those events. It addresses the potential practices that could lead to a fistula, and measures to reduce these complications through improved understanding by practitioners.

The report assesses the successes, challenges and opportunities that the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has offered for advancing and strengthening accountability on sexual and reproductive health and rights. It looks at the extent to which recommendations from the second cycle (2012–16) of the UPR have addressed sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and what issues within this field have received the most attention and which the least. It also looks at the type of recommendations that have been made in this area, and how Member States, UN Agencies and civil society actors have reported on SRHR issues, as well as differences across geographical regions. The report also assesses the extent to which SRHR recommendations from the first cycle have been implemented. 

The study utilized the People Living with HIV Stigma Index, a tool created by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPFF) and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV (UNAIDs), which aims to comprehensively assess and compare the experiences of PLHIVs from across all nations affected by the spread of the disease. The topics covered by this measuring tool include: experience of stigma and discrimination from other people; access to work, health and educational services, internal stigma; knowledge on rights, laws and policies pertaining to HIV; effecting change, testing and diagnosis, disclosure and confidentiality, access to treatment and having children (Quinto et al. 2010).

Cambodia was one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Asia in the mid-1990s; however, the country has been successful in reducing its HIV prevalence and incidence over the last decade. Despite this success, Cambodia still needs additional efforts to address disparities at the subnational level, special needs among key populations, and general stigma and attitudes associated with HIV/AIDS. HIV-related discrimination is not only a human rights violation, but it also has an impact on people’s ability to access HIV testing, care, and treatment. The United Nations’ 2016 High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS included “elimination of HIV-related discrimination” as one of three critical targets to achieve by 2020, along with reducing the number of new HIV infections and people dying from AIDS-related causes to under half a million.

The objectives of the survey were to collect data which can be used to track the HIV epidemic among FSW and guide the response in terms of providing prevention, care and treatment services for this population. Key measures of the survey included HIV seroprevalence, key risk behavior data, service utilization, experience with stigma and discrimination, and estimates of population size. The eligibility criteria for the survey were women aged 15-49 years old, currently living or working in the survey city, and who sold sex for cash or kind in the last 12 months.

The objectives of the survey were to track the epidemic using behavioral risk, experience with stigma and discrimination and HIV seroprevalence markers and assess the progress of the response in terms of utilization of prevention, care and treatment services.

This report presents the results of the 2017-18 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Survey (IBBS), among people who inject drugs (PWID) in selected sites in Myanmar, including a formative assessment and population size estimations. A formative assessment was conducted in September 2017 in each site to inform the implementation of the IBBS. The assessment was conducted to assess the particulars of PWID populations in each setting, to provide information to tailor RDS and PSE methods and logistic approaches to the different PWID population and epidemic context.