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	Hate crime remains a threat not only to victims, but to security, cohesion and development by OSCE: Office for Human Rights (ODIHR)   15 November 2013   Hate-motivated violence not only does great harm to the individuals and groups targeted, but also poses a threat to security, social cohesion and development in the OSCE region, Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said on the release today of the Office’s annual report on hate crime.   The report, “Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region – Incidents and Responses”, released ahead of the 16 November International Day for Tolerance, finds that hate crime continues to be a serious problem across the OSCE region.   “Hate crimes have a deep impact on the communities they target, and bring severe – sometimes fatal – harm to their victims. It is the responsibility of governments throughout the OSCE region to do all they can to prevent these crimes,” Lenarcic said. “This is even more the case given the negative effects hate-motivated violence has on societies in general.”   The report, which identifies a spectrum of violence including threats, vandalism, assault, arson and murder, was presented at a meeting in Warsaw of representatives from 35 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation, responsible for reporting on hate crimes in their respective countries.   Focusing on the need for a comprehensive approach to effectively combat hate-motivated violence, the participants shared challenges and good practices in policing, prosecution and data-collection from across the region.   “Even though a number of steps have been taken by the OSCE and by individual states to effectively respond to the problem of hate crimes, the level of bias-motivated violence across the region remains a cause for serious concern,” Floriane Hohenberg, Head of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department at ODIHR, told the meeting, “Another serious challenge is incomplete data on hate crime and information about what works to address it.”   The report includes separate sections on racist and anti-Semitic crimes; on violence against Roma and Sinti, Muslims, Christians and members of other religions; and on crimes committed with other bias motivations. The report is based on the data received from the 40 participating States who responded to a request for information by ODIHR, as well as on reports of hate crime incidents from 149 NGOs across the region.   The report is available at: http://tandis.odihr.pl/hcr2012/ Visit the related web page
	Millions still waiting for AIDS revolution by UNAIDS, MSF, WHO & agencies   Dec 2013 (Doctors without Borders/MSF)   The fight against HIV/AIDS has been hailed as one of the most successful public health projects in human history - but for millions of people excluded from treatment that promise is still unfulfilled, according to medical charity Medecins Sans Frontières.   AIDS is still the number one killer of young women of child-bearing age – not just in sub-Saharan Africa, but globally, and three out of four pregnant women with HIV are not receiving treatment – all of them in developing countries, MSF said.   “See What We See” is a series of six short films and a mini-documentary that highlight challenges for people living with HIV in Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, South Africa and Myanmar.   The films show a lack of HIV testing, people starting treatment too late to survive or struggling to continue treatment, the neglect of children with HIV, pregnant women dying from AIDS and discrimination of HIV-positive people.   “AIDS deaths are now rare in rich countries, but every day 4,000 people, the majority in developing countries, still die unnecessarily from the disease,” Gilles van Cutsem, medical director for MSF in South Africa and Lesotho, said in a statement.   The films also highlight proven strategies for community-based care that puts more people on treatment earlier and helps them adhere to treatment in the long-term, MSF said.   If donors fail to meet a minimum $15 billion replenishment target for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – at an international meeting to be hosted in the United States this week – some HIV/AIDS endemic countries may be left behind, crippling the momentum built over the last 12 years, MSF said.   In most places with high HIV rates, like South Africa, Swaziland and Malawi, access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically improved over the last decade.   But one in four people who start HIV treatment in low-and middle-income countries do so dangerously late, according to UNAIDS.   In countries like DRC, Guinea, Central African Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan and Myanmar — timely treatment remains out of reach for the majority of people who urgently need it despite the fact that these countries are considered to have low HIV prevalence levels, MSF said.   Maria Machako, a doctor at MSF’s HIV hospital in DRC, said people often arrive at their hospital in the capital Kinshasa when they are already critically ill with full-blown AIDS.   “For many people, it’s too late and they are literally dying on our doorstep,” Machako said in the statement. “25 percent do not survive and 39 percent of the deaths occur within 48 hours.”   In DRC, the most optimistic estimates indicate that less than 30 percent of the 243,000 people who are eligible for antiretroviral treatment today have access, MSF said.   http://see.msf.org/ http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/replenishment/fourth/   November 2013   The number of adolescents infected with HIV has jumped by one-third over the past decade, according to the World Health Organisation.   "More than two million adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 years are living with HIV," marking a 33 per cent rise since 2001.   "Many do not receive the care and support that they need to stay in good health and prevent transmission. In addition, millions more adolescents are at risk of infection."   The big rise is most marked in sub-Saharan Africa where many born with the virus are now adolescents. Girls there are the worst affected. In Asia the most vulnerable groups are drug users.   Craig McClure, head of HIV programs at the UN children"s agency UNICEF says "they face many barriers, including harsh laws, inequalities, stigma and discrimination which prevent them from accessing services that could test, prevent, and treat HIV.   "About one-seventh of all new HIV infections occur during adolescence. Unless the barriers are removed, the dream of an AIDS-free generation will never be realised."   The increase in infections is reflected by an increase in AIDS-related deaths among adolescents, with 70,000 adolescents dying in 2005, but more than 100,000 fatalities in 2012.   That is in stark contrast to a 30 per cent decline in deaths during the same period in the general population.   "Adolescents face difficult and often confusing emotional and social pressures as they grow from children into adults," said Gottfried Hirnschall, head of the WHO"s HIV/AIDS department.   "Adolescents need health services and support, tailored to their needs. They are less likely than adults to be tested for HIV and often need more support than adults to help them maintain care and to stick to treatment."   Among the measures needed, the WHO said, is an end to the requirement for parental permission to have an HIV test.   In sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that in the 15-24 age bracket, only 10 per cent of young men and 15 per cent of young women know their HIV status.   In other regions, although data are scarce, access to HIV testing and counselling by vulnerable adolescents is consistently reported as being very low, the WHO said.   http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46614&Cr=hiv&Cr1=aids http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2013/hiv-adolescents-20131125/en/index.html http://www.unicef.org/media/media_71098.html http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2013/november/20131120report/ http://www.irinnews.org/theme/hiv/hiv/aids http://www.childrenandaids.org/ http://www.trust.org/spotlight/World-AIDS-Day-2013/ http://see.msf.org/ Visit the related web page
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