Anglicans Working Together on AIDS

A Cathedral where people can come to be voluntarily tested for HIV, hospitals offering antiretroviral therapy, home-based care to help with adherence to medication regimes, youth groups offering support and prevention education, palliative care and practical help to those living with HIV. These are all part of the Anglican response to HIV & AIDS which is described in a new report.

UN Human Rights Council – 6th Session (Part I), September 2007

For the first time in the UN Human Rights Council's short existence, substantive issues took slight precedence over institutional issues during this September leg of its sixth session. Although the Council still had work to do to finalise the Universal Periodic Review process, the session involved lively discussions on several issues, including the defamation of religion. In this regard, AUNO Geneva signed a statement as part of its work on religion and spirituality at the UN

UNAIDS Programme Co-ordinating Board (PCB) – June 2007

As part of their mandate to build relationships between the Anglican Community and UN bodies based in Geneva, representatives from AUNO Geneva were recently amongst the 300 or so participants to attend the 20th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Co-ordinating Board (PCB).

UN Human Rights Council – 5th Session, June 2007

The fifth session of the UN Human Rights Council focussed on finalising its basic institutional infrastructure. This was achieved by way of a Presidential text, which was dramatically agreed upon just minutes before a midnight deadline on June 18th.

Mapping the Anglican Response to HIV/AIDS

“By launching a new project to map the Anglican response to HIV/AIDS in Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia, the Anglican-UN Office (AUNO) in Geneva aims to encourage more partnership between international and public health agencies and the Anglican Communion..

A New Anglican UN Office in Geneva

“The opening of a Geneva office in April 2007 hails a new phase for Anglican representation at the United Nations. Funded through a grant from the Anglican Communion, the office is a physical sign of Anglican commitment to the international humanitarian issues that are central to UN work in Geneva.

UN Human Rights Council – 4th Session, March 2007

Since the creation of the UN Human Rights Council in 2006, (to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights – see Geneva Digest Feb-July 2006 ) attention has focussed more on procedural issues than on substantive issues.

Geneva Digest - Feb 2006 - July 2006
Geneva ACC/UN Advisory Committee

Some activities undertaken through March - June 2006

Freedom of Religion or Belief

“Although this item is still addressed in the Human Rights Commission under the title of "Religious Intolerance", the emphasis is upon promoting tolerance in an active and fully respectful way. …in promoting strategies of prevention, notably through education and inter-religious dialogue.

What Is ‘The Right To Development?’

In recent sessions, CHR61 delegates have been looking at the ‘right to development.’ The UN Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted in 1986, and since then there has not always been agreement over its legal definition and scope.

An update of the 61st Human Rights Commission, March, 2005.

CHR61 began with several days dedicated to speeches by dignitaries of member countries. Alongside this, there has been been criticism from certain NGOs of the role in the Commission of some of those countries recently identified with Human Rights abuses, and a continuing concern for the Commission to remain faithful to its mandate as the main human rights body established under the UN Charter.