Nigeria: HIV-positive woman launches suit after being denied treatment

A 39-year-old woman who was denied treatment at a hospital in Lagos simply because she is HIV-positive is fighting back through the courts. The Center for the Right to Health has filed a lawsuit on her behalf, seeking damages as well as an injection to prevent further discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS who seek treatment.     

The ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation 202, and poverty reduction

This article critically assesses the provisions of ILO Recommendation 202 on social protection floors with a view to ascertaining its efficacy for poverty reduction in poor regions. The article discusses the relevant provisions of the Recommendation and how states, particularly those in developing regions, can translate them to a tool for poverty reduction. The article highlights some of the deficiencies of ILO Recommendation 202 and provides some suggestions for ways forward.     

Eviction process in Nigeria: the need for meaningful engagement

The important process of meaningful engagement with persons affected by eviction has been greatly under-utilised in Nigeria and this leaves the victims in a dire situation as their yearnings are hardly met. Having regard to the jurisprudence of the South African Constitutional Court on meaningful engagement, a critical evaluation of the case of Badia East eviction in Lagos, Nigeria is considered highlighting the flaws in the engagement process adopted. It is shown that the process of meaningful engagement with affected persons before an eviction occurs has the capacity to mitigate the human rights abuses that could arise from the process.     

Compulsory Licensing and Access to Medicines in Post Doha Era: What Hope for Africa?

Netherlands International Law Review -     

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the woman question

This paper proposes that in developing jurisprudence on women’s rights, the African Commission will need to ask the woman question, particularly the African woman question. The woman question requires a judicial or quasi-judicial body to always put woman at the centre of any decision with a view to addressing the historically disadvantaged position of women in society. Asking the African woman question means examining how the peculiar experiences of African women have been ignored by laws rooted in patriarchy across the region. Although the Commission has handled few cases directly dealing with women’s rights, the paper suggests that the Commission can draw inspiration from decisions of other regional and international human rights bodies such as the European Court on Human Rights and the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) on how to ask the woman question. The paper recommends that in line with feminist reasoning, there is a need for the African Commission to develop a consistent gender-sensitive approach in dealing with cases that may have implications for women. In essence, the African Commission must ask the African woman question when dealing with cases on the enjoyment of women’s fundamental rights.     

Nigeria launches new AIDS policy

A new national policy on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria prohibits mandatory HIV/AIDS testing and addresses a number of other human rights and ethical issues. Activists welcome the new policy, but they point out that it is not legally enforceable. What is needed, they say, is for the government to introduce anti-discrimination legislation.     

The judicialisation of the right to adequate food: a comparative study of India and South Africa

This article discusses the normative framework for the recognition of the right to adequate food under international and regional human rights law. It then examines the relevance of judicialisation of the right to food in India and South Africa. The article observes that while the right to food is not explicitly recognised in the Indian Constitution, the courts have purposively interpreted the Constitution with a view to holding the government accountable to its obligation under international and national law. It concludes by examining lessons South Africa can draw from the Indian experience.