Many countries have been seemingly overwhelmed by the speed with which the HIV epidemic has spread and its impact on forced migrants and other mobile populations.
Although most of Asia has not suffered from a generalised HIV epidemic, there is reason to be concerned about how forced migration and economic crisis-related migration may increase the risks.
Ten years after the HIV/AIDS epidemic itself was identified as a threat to international peace and security, findings from the three-year AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative (ASCI)(1) present evidence of the mutually reinforcing dynamics linking HIV/AIDS, conflict and security.
Entrenched misconceptions about HIV/AIDS in humanitarian emergencies have been refuted but there is still work to do to ensure that HIV is adequately and appropriately addressed.
Evidence-based experience, good assessment and a readiness to adapt programmes to local realities have been key to tackling HIV in Asia.
The international community has learned much over recent years about the need and potential for integration of HIV awareness into the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process.
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) interventions provide potential avenues to help reach those who are most vulnerable to HIV transmission.
Uganda faces major challenges to ensure the continuity and sustainability of treatment programmes for IDPs returning home.
Pre-existing gender relations changed for the worse during the conflict and interventions to promote disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) failed to address the dynamics which shape the spread of HIV.
Research in Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Liberia has highlighted worrying neglect of HIV issues in the aftermath of conflict and displacement.
A broad gender approach is needed to understand the social context of HIV transmission within conflict environments.
Social scientists are working with epidemiologists to produce evidence that questions traditional epidemiological HIV ‘core group’ models.
Sex work is an indisputable reality in humanitarian settings. UNHCR and UNFPA have demonstrated the importance of multisectoral interventions to address HIV in sex work.
Sale of blood became an attractive alternative to the rural-urban migration induced by economic and social hardships but has been the cause of an HIV/AIDS epidemic in China.
Good-quality protective formal and non-formal education can provide the knowledge and skills for the prevention of HIV and protection from the impact of AIDS.
In the ten years since the Security Council’s first resolution on HIV/AIDS, much has been learned about the dynamics linking HIV and AIDS, conflict and insecurity. Assessing progress made over the past decade in responding to these dynamics enables us to identify new opportunities for prevention and response.