Published by The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), the manual was designed to:

• provide readers with a better understanding of the links between HIV/AIDS and human rights;
• set out ways in which law and policy can and should promote an effective human rights-based response to HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa;
• give examples of how Southern African countries have used rights-based law and policy to respond to HIV/AIDS; and
• provide readers with ideas on how to strengthen a rights-based response to HIV/AIDS in their own countries and in the region.

This manual is intended for a wide range of people, such as paralegals, lawyers, social workers, counsellors, people working in AIDS Service Organisations (ASOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educators, and trade union members. It aims to give readers practical information on how law and policy can protect and promote human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS, and how the laws and policies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have met this challenge. It also looks at ways to strengthen a rights-based response to HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa.

Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter, containing information on the background to the manual and its aims and objectives. It explains how to use the Manual, and sets out a glossary of terms, acronyms, and abbreviations used in the Manual. Chapters 2 to 5 of the manual contain background information on HIV/AIDS and human rights in Southern Africa. This includes basic information about HIV and human rights, the link between the two, how HIV/AIDS policies, programmes, and practices can impact on human rights, and how human rights instruments, such as national Constitutions and international human rights treaties, can be useful tools for responding to HIV and AIDS. The publication goes on to discuss ways to monitor and enforce HIV/AIDS-related human rights law and policy within countries and at a regional level, as well as advocacy as a way to challenge regional and country-based responses to HIV and AIDS. It sets out various advocacy strategies, as well as common advocacy issues for the region like routine HIV testing, testing in the armed forces, HIV-related research and gender issues.