Homophobia heats up with the summer

As the summer months fast approach us and today being the longest day of the year the tense atmosphere in that which is Jamaica in as far as homophobia is concerned is becoming more so, as more reports continue to come in and JFLAG in a recent flyer (Below) said they had some reports as well.

One of the police abuse instances that is mentioned above in that flyer is one that occurred in Montego Bay where a party promoter aligned to some rouge police officers were sent to disrupt a popular venue there as it was deemed as taking away business in the ever increasingly stiff party entertainment market. Sadly it seems JFLAG has overlooked or chose to ignore the real reason in fear of the community's embarrassment coming too much to light, if we are going to be speaking on rights we must speak the truth and call it as we see it, not gloss it over. The others were flat out homophobic abuse.

Read more on that here from my sister blog on Wordpress:

Big Blow For Homeless/Displaced MSMs In Western Jamaica …..

Of interest are the cases of beatings since May with a recent one in Glendevon in St. James of a 13 year old. The previous was a skirmish in St. Thomas which started out as a quarrel over a fence with a neighbour and ended up in homophobic slurs being directed at one of the occupants of the property who by the utterances of his detractors said they suspected him as a battyman. Disturbing lesbophobic attacks as well have been making the rounds with unconfirmed choppings and beatings in St. Ann of two women respectively while a confirmed case of "picketing" in Kingston of a same gender loving woman has also come to light which occurred in late May. She has since relocated and is planning on selling the property.

The case of the former business man who was displaced and had relocated has taken a new twist as the police had to be called in to settle a dispute with a landlord who also accused the man of not having any woman, so he must be a battyman den and he should leave her place at once. The police as reported were professional and reminded her of the rules as stated under the Rent Act as to how to ask a tenant to vacate ones premises but the landlord has threatened to use other means to get rid of him so he is taking all the needed precautions.

A suspected murder at a previous crime spot in Kingston nearing the national solid waste authority building is also of grave concern but unconfirmed as at this post. The murder of a former JFLAG volunteer and employee earlier this year is also still disturbing myself and others who are close to the case as he was buried unceremoniously as a pauper with no last rights offered due to an unrepentant homophobic father and a less caring organization of which he was apart no matter how short his tenure was. Not even so much as a release to formally recognise him was forthcoming.

See more here on previous questionable deaths of members of our community:

The Tragic Loss Of Three Icons In Less Than A Month ……..

Also see the entry from Wordpress on the dancehall DJ's entourage attack at a gas station earlier this year:

Hate Crime Or Magnet For A Beating? ……. Popular DJ’s Entourage Square Off With Gay Men ……………..

Men Rushed And Beaten In New Kingston

Certainly I am worried and deeply at this sharp rise in accounts of abuse and other problems that we ourselves cause to occur such as a lack of vigilance of ones private electronic devices and computers especially when surfing social network pages with gay materials with relatives or non gay friends around only to have them eaves-drop or deliberately force themselves to discover the secret with a broadcast that causes awful repercussions. A disturbing case of blackmail also has come to the fore of a young man who was found out by a distant relative only to have the

same relative declare his own same sex attractions and demanding sexual favours as the young man resided in the home of the relative. He is since seeking new accommodation to avoid any eventualities.

A case of a chase in Half Way Tree on May 17 was also confirmed as a young man who had had a public quarrel with another man alleged also to be gay near the York Pharmacy was chased away by the fruit vendors and taxi drivers nearby as he exited the establishment according to reports, his raucous behaviour was not tolerated by onlookers who also used the regular curse words "battyman" sadly more and more it is becoming burdensome to have to bring these events in my posts to your attention but it is needed so we can have some clue as to what's really going on. The difficulty as always is confirmation of some of the reports and accusations such as the beating of a youngster at a prominent high school in Kingston, it has been the subject of

discussion elsewhere on social network sites but no one seems able to provide proper leads or evidence to that effect.

What is promising is the younger lgbt body politic is not lost to adopting some care and vigilance and they are speaking out on issues as well it is refreshing to see the vibrant exchanges now on some networking sites and it is hoped that this can help the information sharing to grow in earnest although many of the subject matter is of a raunchy nature but that may tire out some and maybe lead to new issues or real issues being brought to bear. Certainly the participation in advocacy typed activity such as responding to letters to the editors, article reviews and critiquing the issues as well as the advocates JFLAG's stewardship is on the minds of this new crop on LGBT people.

Sadly as seen below the transgender advocacy from the J is still way below par and the invisibility from lack of proper engagement and discourse is glaring, the page only has a link to a Wikipedia entry and as usual the comments section is closed, so much for engagement and forumatic activity. JFLAG SITE

Let's continue to be vigilant at all angles, watch and document what you see and hear, let me know if you desire it to go public send via email to lgbtevent@gmail.com or link JFLAG if your so desire at the numbers on the flyer above that shows the countdown of incidents.

Peace and tolerance

H

A Failing Relationship: How to Let Go

By Alisa Chagnon

When we are in an established relationship, we quite normally have expectations of our partner. We expect the person whom we love to show concern for our emotional and physical wellbeing, be respectful, kind, and give us a general feeling of safety and protection from life's stressors. What do we do when the other person in the relationship is failing to meet our needs?

There is a two-step process for this situation to occur in the first place. The first being that we must ask ourselves if we entered into the relationship in which our partner did not demonstrate a large amount of these qualities to begin with. When falling in love, we sometimes only see the pleasing elements of a person's personality and overlook the seemingly potentially disturbing aspects.

Once the relationship has been established, as time goes on, this can lead to an inevitable realization that our partner in the relationship is not all that we desired. Disappointed and saddened that we feel we are not receiving the love we deserve, a person can quickly become frustrated, confused, and/or depressed.

The second way in which a person can begin to make us wonder if they truly care about us, is the situation in which their feelings toward us have apparently changed. In this case, our significant other did in fact display quality personality elements, provided us with the emotional support and gave us a feeling of love and safety in the relationship, and then they withdrew.

There are significant amounts of ways in which we may feel that our partner may be failing us. A sudden decrease in phone calls, a lack of questions and concerns regarding our personal life, spaces of time that are unaccounted for as we attempt to contact them to no avail, and being unfaithful are a few. Regardless of what actions they are doing, if we feel that they are not in love with us as previously thought, it can cause confusion and frustration. Understanding the situation for what it is can then lead to finding a solution to help us cope

There are many reasons why our partner may be displaying a lack of love, respect and kindness. A person may have reached a point in their life in which they question themselves and their ability to be in a serious relationship. They wish to distance themselves, as they feel they need freedom to consider their options. They may simply have decided that the relationship is not what they desire. A person may choose to exit the relationship slowly, because they do not possess the ability tell us pointblank.

When this happens, it is a natural instinct to question the other person in the relationship, try to learn why they are causing us to feel rejected and attempt to correct the problem. While counseling may work for specific relationship problems, this will only have a possibility of effectiveness if both partners wish to remain in the relationship. A large amount of patience and dedication is required to repair a relationship in this way.

However, if your partner simply does not possess the yearning of staying in the relationship, the single most important element to know is this: No matter how strongly you may desire a relationship, if the other person is not providing you with love there is nothing you can do about it. Questioning, prodding or even counseling will not force a person to love you. In fact, questioning their actions, demanding explanations, and attempting to force them into showing love will only push them away more rapidly. Just as we have freewill to do as we wish with our lives, our partner has this right also.

Feeling rejected is one of the saddest emotions we can have. Especially when we have shown and felt very strong love for another person and the relationship is failing. We ourselves, feel like failures. We may questions what we may have done wrong. We may struggle to think of a way to make the person care for us. Realize that nothing you did or said causes a person to fall out of love. True love does not stop, and if the relationship is fading, true and lasting love was not in place. Loving a person does not guarantee that we will then receive that same amount of love.

Is disheartening but true, if a person stops loving us, we have two choices. We can accept it or we can allow it to eat away at us. Acceptance of a lost love is the most difficult choice. The majority of people will first enter the phase of denial, hurt and anger. These feeling will eat away at us, causing problems in our family life, our personal life and our career. The emotional pain that we feel can most often seem to be such a large obstacle that it appears to be impossible to simply accept the situation. Feeling as though all our dreams and hopes for a future with the person we love has suddenly gone away is sometimes unbearable.

Sadly, despite how unhappy we may feel, our feeling of sorrow will not change the situation. In desperation, we may pray, beg and daydream constantly for the other person to love us. Nothing will change. If we realize this, the only other choice is to accept it.

Acceptance does not mean that we agree they treated us correctly. Acceptance does not mean that we must shut off our feelings for the other person. Acceptance does not mean that we must somehow feel happy. Acceptance simply means that we are fully aware that the relationship is not going to be as we desired and we sadly cannot change the other person's feelings.

Once understanding this, and accepting this, we can attempt to go on with our lives. Attempting to stay in a relationship in which we are not receiving love is only delaying the separation process. Unless you unwisely choose to remain this type of relationship, which equals feeling rejected and frustrated, a breakup is unavoidable. In a perfect world, the people whom we love so strongly would feel the same way for us. In a perfect world, all of the devotion we gave would come back to us. We do not live in this world, and to imagine we do, does not allow us to deal with the reality of our lives. Letting go is one of the most difficult emotional choices we can make. Letting go, is one of smartest choice we can make.

Rest in Peace Taylor Siluwé .....

Visit his blog HERE

His critically acclaimed book available HERE and Cheezy Porn (and other fairytales) get that HERE and A Taste of Cherries HERE

The Blogging community lost a very powerful voice last Sunday June 19th when Taylor Siluwé 43, was promoted to glory after battling lung cancer. He was undergoing treatment to also include chemotherapy and seemed strong in recovery as he blogged from his bed in the hospital. His last entry he outlined his struggle with the treatment and how hard the days were:

"Some days its bad.

Yet some days I feel like my old self. But the other days tell me I'm truly in the fight for my life, with new aches and pains and popping up in weird places.

Thank God for Trel, my housemate Darryl, and my real AND extended family. Having a support system during this is actually the wind beneath my wings. I have a friend in similar situations without anyone to hold his hand through it. It's heartbreaking. I'm shifting my focus now to help him.

Everybody needs somebody - especially when your body is trying to kill you.

This support is gonna to push me over the edge of grave illness, past the puking and the radiation, over the horizon of being a cancer survivor. This has to happen.

In the interim, its gonna be a year of trials because like it or not, life doesn't pause for disease, bill collectors still call and bring me down, T-Mobile doesn't care whether my cancer is stage one or stage 4. The utility company actually does care a bit considering I'm on an oxygen compressor, the lose of which would be tragic.

My major medical is pretty much taken care of (thank God), but day to day incidentals can be trying.

So I'm asking for anything that anyone can spare. Just click the donate button on the upper right with $10, $20 $50, whatever won't be a hardship to you. Thank you in advance, and God bless the kindness of strangers."

ENDS

But the master had other plans so he was taken from us but as they say there is a reason for everything. I devoted this space for him in memory as for the short time we met online and exchanged ideas and opinions we were both the richer for it as bloggers knowing how tedious it can get sometimes with the dedication, time and effort to maintain and stick to ones point of view even if it departs from everyone else.

See his website HERE http://www.taylorsiluwe.com/

Rest in Peace my yute

Peace and tolerance

H

New Guidelines on Deportation Cases Could Apply to Gay Couples

Andrew Harmon from The Advocate

Immigration officials may be able to consider the circumstances of married binational same-sex couples when making decisions about deportation, although an immigration group in response has asked for further clarification of new federal guidelines.

According to guidelines issued in a Friday June 19th a memo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton to field directors, agents, and attorneys, Morton listed 19 criteria that could be considered in deportation cases, including whether an individual has a U.S. citizen spouse, as well as “the person’s ties and contributions to the community” and whether the individual’s nationality “renders removal unlikely.”

Morton specified that the list “is not exhaustive.” In response, an LGBT immigration advocacy group has asked the agency to clarify whether terms like “spouse” and “family” in the memo include gay partners and spouses.

“While ICE has taken a significant step in recognizing that tearing families apart should not be a government priority, it must be explicit that lesbian and gay families are protected, too,” Immigration Equality executive director Rachel Tiven said in a statement today.

Following the Obama administration’s February announcement that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court cases, Tiven’s organization and other advocates have called on officials to exercise their discretion in immigration cases involving married gay binational couples because President Barack Obama has said the 1996 law, which prevents federal recognition of same-sex marriages, is unconstitutional.

In some recent, well-publicized cases, officials have perhaps indicated their willingness to exercise such discretion, though the administration has so far said it will not issue a blanket policy on the matter.

“Neither [the Department of Homeland Security] nor [the Department of Justice] has granted any form of relief to the entire category of cases affected by DOMA,” wrote DHS assistant secretary Nelson Peacock and Assistant Attorney General Ronald Reich in a May letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., replying to correspondence this spring from the two lawmakers.

Kerry and Lofgren, backed by dozens of colleagues in the House and Senate, had urged restraint in deportation proceedings involving married same-sex couples and asked that any green card application proceedings be put on hold pending legal resolution or legislative repeal of DOMA.

Lavi Soloway, an LGBT immigration attorney and cofounder of Stop the Deportations, said the ICE memo "offers abundant discretion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys handling deportation matters to consider the circumstances of lesbian and gay binational couples.

There are at least three provisions that will prove to be very important for LGBT deportation cases: consideration of the person's ties to the country of origin and conditions there; consideration of the person's ties to the community, including family relationships; and consideration of whether the person has a spouse, parent or child who is a U.S. citizen or green card holder."

"Stop the Deportations will urge that these guidelines be applied fairly and compassionately to the spouses of lesbian and gay Americans facing deportation," Soloway said.

Meanwhile ..............

Few immigrants want to be deported. Here are three vignettes of South Florida immigrants who face, or recently faced, being returned to their native country, followed by a brief look inside an innovative Immigration Clinic at the University of Miami, where students represent immigrants who cannot afford to defend themselves against deportation.

Immigrant Song: I Don't Want To Leave from John Van Beekum on Vimeo.

A Jamaican brotha is included

Peace and tolerance

H

There goes "On The Ground News" again .......

So another instalment from the very popular Facebook Page "On The Ground News Report" has a glimpse into the pulse of Jamaican society when it comes to homosexuals and the views about us especially when certain actions are taken to point out rights based issues, those activities are viewed as an imposition of the stigmatized and predatory perceptions particularly of male homosexuality.

AIDSFREEWORLD along with Maurice Tomlinson and the slow in coming activists JFLAG have once again had an outdoor demonstration this time not at Devon House where the last two were before but at The Little Theatre in the morning.

Normally the photos captured at the event would have been sent but at post time they were not forthcoming but early indications suggest there more hostile reaction than normal at the other spots before probably due to the fact that the two Jamaica system is very much alive and well, the lower down to the heart of Kingston one comes is the more reactive and caustic the reactions come towards perceived ot actual homosexual occurrences.

Here are some of the responses from the thread which was placed on their profile on Friday June 19 at 1:56pm.

Unconfirmed but Corroborated: OGNR has learnt that there was a protest at the Little Little Theatre by a group of homosexuals. We are currently unaware of the circumstances that led to the protest. If you were in the area post what you saw.

Here are some selected comments to have an idea of what's being said:

"as gay peeps.......we know bout unnu undercover johncrows....thats why unnu no like we.......we have u file! dwl! we see unnu a hide in the corner at the gay events...a wait pan smaddy fi look u....gwey"

"Mi draw a line between me and everyone else in the world, but guess wah? "no fish canna cross it" dem fi guh a "stomas pan""

"the government has laws that affect all of us. Your personal values are the foundation principles that govern your lif, character, identity. the fact that the buggery law speaks to sexual acts in teh home is a matter of privacy not values. So again I ask what are your values? You should actually show up at some of teh TFM session taht the Congress is doing and see what values you gather to build your life."

"Dwl, this serious. Mi neva do so much comments on OGNR unless its homosexually related. Everybody has a mind of their own and we all have to answer for our own "sins", suh why people sexuality a bother unu? If I or you decide to be gay, what that haffi do wid anybody. Some a unu gay ina unu mind but because "society" seh it wrong, unu life unhappy cause uny caan live the way unu want."

"Another hot debate seems like Jamaica have a lot of skeleton been washed out of the closet,s, if is just the little rain last week cause this don,t want to be around when the hurricane comes, seriously thou in days gone by when you were doing something wrong you would hide and do it but all of a sudden every body get bright and a crawl out at the same time. I have said it on this forum already homosexually is wrong don,t try to push your life style on a society that strongly oppose it if there is to be a change it will come until then stay in the closet"

"If you hate everything about gay people then throw away your computer. Alan Turing built the Turing machine, the basis for the modern computer, and he was a gay man. Without him you wouldnt be here hating against gay people."

"TO ALL YOU HOMO SUPPORTERS: Why don't you equally support all the other nastiness & evil of society such as Paedophiles, Murderers, Incesters, etc.?? Why you don't just mind your damn business with those, even when your man is fucking your 13y-o daughter?"

"Good god man, rapist soon come demonstrate, its not a readily accepted way of life in jamaica and its gonna stay that way because of our Nature! To the Homos, is either uno tek di likkle freedom weh uno a get r the nation is gonna start revolting!!!!"

"The homosexuals ought not to draw such attention on themselves, its their lives and they are free to do as they like but its not necessary to be in everybody face about it."

"yes all sins are equal, however that being said just because all sins are equal does not make HOMOSEXUALITY RIGHT, we talk so much about TOLERANCE FOR HOMOSEXUALS, are we to blind our eyes to the fact then that it is a sin? The bible was specific when it said MAN SHOULD NOT LIE WITH ANOTHER MAN, there is no going around it, you can say people are HOMOPHOBIC, INTOLERANT, or what ever else you choose to call it, at the end of the day the fact is that the ANUS was not made for SEXUAL INTERCOURSE, no amount of going back and forth is going to change that. Maybe if HOMOSEXUALS would keep their business in the bedroom and not throw it in the face of what we hold sacred and dear, (MAN BELONGS TO WOMAN), we would not have a problem"

"no Jamaicans are not IGNORANT, far from it, what is IGNORANT is when THOSE WHO CONDONE HOMOSEXUALITY WANT THOSE WHO DO NOT CONDONE IT TO KEEP QUIET, If homosexuals have their say then by GOD those who are against it should be allowed their views as well. The fact is weather you like it or not, it is WRONG in the sight of GOD, and no amount of PROTESTING, BEING ALLOWED TO GET MARRIED, is going to change that. It amazes me just how much HOMOSEXUALS talk about HUMAN RIGHTS, every human being has rights, you however do not have the right to FORCE anyone to accept your perverted behavior."

"HOMOSEXUALITY has nothing to do with HUMAN RIGHTS, if that were the case then PROSTITUTES would have a reason to demonstrate as well. HOMOSEXUALITY is a CHIOCE, and if you make the CHOICE live with the consequences"

"You make a valid point there! Values? There are no more values anymore... It's all about my rights, your rights, his rights, her rights... values has been compeltely vanished, taken away and replaced with what people think or believe to be "his rights" so sickening. And anyone who dares to stand up for themselves and refuse to accept their lifestyle is now suddenly discriminating, is now a bigot is now committing hate crime... amazing!"

" I am tired of the continuos justifcation... as if one wrong, makes another wrong right! Like I said, because one man murder, does not make stealing right...so because people rape, don't make homosexuality right"

"I love looking at ignorant people's comment. I am VERY sure that all of u at the moment are doing immoral things, what makes the action of a homosexual more immoral than the woman's husband u r sleeping with, or the underage school girl u r fondling or the fornication that is current going on in ur life. U need to understand that at the end of the day, all men will be judged equally and at the end of it, all will be caste in the pit of hell- regardless of the sin. So u continue to focus on homosexuals and judge them"

"And the dunce ask "what is the world coming to?" is is what always been- homosexuality as been around since the dawn of time, from the biblical days of soddom and gommorah, to the ancient romans and greeks, vikings and medieval warriors, from BC to AD and its gonna be here till the Lord returns to judge. So continue to beat up thyselves."

ENDS

Follow the rest of the thread here if interested but it is clear to all we have a far way to go in this gay versus straight drama clearly JFLAG is now seeing the seeds of its limpwristedness over the decade plus by not doing what it ought to have been doing effectively which is to disseminate information both inwardly and nationally in a timely fashion while agitating for the buggery law's repulsion while adequately challenging the stereotypes that has been stoked over the period as well by the print media clearly the stigma that we are paedophile/predators is exactly what is feeding this continued hate, simply demonstrating and having outdoor protests is NOT enough. Real action is needed now not the step and fetch it mode that now exists to counter strong criticisms and dissenting remarks from the very community it is to serve. Proper social interventions to include all the players those who agree or don't as to the way forward are also needed it's not enough to describe their growing number of critics through emissaries as bickerers yet boast you are the official LGBT organization yet are ultra selective in whom are to be engaged whilst saying they are speaking on our behalf, the hypocrisy must stop.

More is also needed from ordinary lgbt folk to get involved as well and bombard threads, walls and profiles such as this ONGR. We cannot sit and solely depend on the advocates. Rise up.

Peace and tolerance

H

Bahamas backs gay rights

JUAN McCARTNEY
NG Senior Reporter
juan@nasguard.com

The Bahamas supports the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution passed yesterday that affirms equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette.

The resolution, which narrowly passed in the council in Geneva, Switzerland, expressed “grave concern” about discrimination against gays throughout the world and affirmed that freedom to choose sexuality is a human right.
The Bahamas does not have a seat on the council, but is in favor of the resolution in principle, Symonette said.

He noted that he had not seen the resolution, but said the government supports the expansion of rights for “people of any persuasion.”
“Our record is clear, we continue to support freedom of expression and the right for people to express their opinions,” Symonette said.
“We actually voted in expansion of the rights [of GLBT people in a UN General Assembly vote earlier this year].”

The resolution passed in the human rights council also asked the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a study by the end of the year that would point out “discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity in all regions of the world.”

Twenty-three countries on the human rights council supported the resolution, 19 voted against it and three countries abstained.

The resolution was the first of its kind passed by the council. It was fiercely opposed by Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, among other countries.

The United States supported the resolution, which also asked that the study be conducted before the end of the year to look at how international laws can “be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The resolution also said that the council will form a panel once the study is completed to discuss “constructive, informed and transparent dialogue on the issue of discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.”

One month ago, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay equated homophobia and transphobia to misogyny and racism. She also claimed that hate crimes against GLBT people were on the rise.

“States have an obligation to decriminalize homosexuality and to protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation,” she said.

UN Human Rights Resolution on Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation is adopted

Friday June 17, 2011 the United Nations voted 23 in favour 19 against and 3 abstentions to adobt its first ever human rights Resolution including gender diversity and sexual orientation.

Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity

The Human Rights Council, Recalling the universality, interdependence, indivisibility and interrelatedness of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and consequently elaborated in other human rights instruments such as the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other relevant core human rights instruments;

Recalling also that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in that Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status;

Recalling further GA resolution 60/251, which states that the Human Rights Council shall be responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in fair and equal manner;

Expressing grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

1. Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to commission a study to be finalised by December 2011, to document discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, in all regions of the world, and how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity;

2. Decides to convene a panel discussion during the 19th session of the Human Rights Council, informed by the facts contained in the study commissioned by High Commissioner and to have constructive, informed and transparent dialogue on the issue of discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity;

3. Decides also that the panel will also discuss the appropriate follow‐up to the
recommendations of the study commissioned by the High Commissioner;

4. Decides to remain seized with this priority issue.

Who voted:

Yes": Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Thailand, UK, USA, Uruguay.

"No" : Angola, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Moldova, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Uganda.

Abstentions: Burkina Faso, China, Zambia

Absent: Kyrgyzstan, Libya (suspended)

Co-Sponsors of the resolution: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, and Uruguay.

Earlier in this 17th session of the Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo, reported to the Council that:

“Contributory factors for risk of violence include individual aspects of women’s bodily attributes such as race, skin colour, intellectual and physical abilities, age, language skills and fluency, ethnic identity and sexual orientation.”

The report also detailed a number of violations committed against lesbian, bisexual and trans women, including cases of rape, attacks and murders. It is therefore regrettable that a reference to "women who face sexuality-related violence" was removed from the final version of another resolution focused on the elimination of violence against women during the same session.

"Despite this inconsistency, we trust the UN resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity will facilitate the integration of the full range of sexual rights throughout the work of the UN.", said Meghan Doherty, of the Sexual Rights Initiative.

A powerful civil society statement was delivered at the end of the session, welcoming the resolution and affirming civil society’s commitment to continuing to engage with the United Nations with a view to ensuring that all persons are treated as free and equal in dignity and rights, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Now, our work is just beginning”, said Kim Vance of ARC International. “We look forward to the High Commissioner’s report and the plenary panel next March, as well as to further dialogue with, and support from, those States which did not yet feel able to support the resolution, but which share the concern of the international community at these systemic human rights abuses.”

Great news

DOWNLOAD PDF HERE

Peace and tolerance

H

DSM 5 Needs To Reject Hebephilia Now says blogger

Article taken from Psychology Today's Blog

DSM 5 Needs To Reject Hebephilia Now
Striking New Evidence Further Undercuts This Poorly Conceived Proposal
by Allen J. Frances, M.D. in DSM5 in Distress

The DSM 5 sexual disorders work group recently rejected rape as a mental disorder. It is now (past) time for it also to drop the silly proposal to add "hebephilia" to DSM 5. "Hebephilia" is a medical sounding term for what is a purely legal issue- the statutory rape of pubescent youngsters aged 11-14. This is a crime deserving punishment, not a mental disorder deserving psychiatric hospitalization.

The work group has tried to package "hebephilia" as no more than a natural extension of the already existing DSM IV diagnosis Pedophilia. This is false advertising. Having sex with someone who is post-pubescent is not at all the same as having sex with someone who is pre-pubescent. Puberty is the most decisive of all rites of passage-it makes a world of difference whether the victim has attained it or not.

Let's define Pedophilia first. It describes individuals whose predominant sexual arousal pattern involves an intense and recurrent interest in pre-pubescent children. Pedophilia is an official DSM diagnosis and is suitable for use in SVP proceedings (so long as it is carefully distinguished from molestation that is merely opportunistic or substance induced). Preferential sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children is rare and deviant.

In contrast, Sexual attraction to pubescent youngsters is common and has never been considered a mental disorder. A clear marker of this significant distinction is that the age of consent has varied so widely with time and place. It was 13 in many parts of the US as recently as 100 years ago. To lust after youth is normal; to act on this lust was once part of the courting ritual but is now a serious crime. It is not now, and never has been, a sign of psychiatric illness.

The "hebephilia" proposal was always a poorly thought out, obvious non-starter. It failed on conceptual grounds, was unsupported by scientific evidence, and would create disastrous forensic problems. Fortunately, there is a now a new and piercing nail to seal the coffin on this truly bad idea. An important data reanalysis by Wollert and Cramer (accepted for publication by Behavioral Sciences and the Law) has recently proved that the suggested criteria set for "hebephilia" is fatally flawed.

Let's count the four strikes against "hebephilia" as a mental disorder:

Strike 1) Sex with a pubescent teenager is most certainly a heinous crime, but equally certain it is not at all indicative of deviant sexual interest. Surveys show that it is very common to be attracted to pubescent youngsters (Calvin Klein had this figured out long ago). Evolution explains why. Our ancestors didn't live long enough to afford the luxury of a sexless adolescence- they got around to the serious business of procreation as soon as nature permitted them. For this evolutionary reason, sexual interest in the pubescent is hard wired and is not by itself deviant.

Strike 2) The DSM 5 sexual disorders work group suggested the puzzling idea that mechanically counting the number of sexual crimes the offender had committed could somehow help determine if he suffered from a mental disorder. This seemed foolish on the face of it. But a work group member then published data suggesting that counting crimes had actually worked in accurately identifying "hebephiles". The statistically naïve (including the paper's author) took this result as evidence that the proposed criteria set might possibly be workable. But Wollert and Cramer smelled a statistical rat in the paper and worked hard to track it down. Reanalyzing the original raw data with appropriate statistical methods, they found that (contrary to the original report) there was an extremely high false positive rate in identifying "hebephelia". This had been obscured by an obvious statistical error in the original analysis- the highly selective sampling of subjects at the poles of the continuum, arbitrarily excluding those in the middle.

Strike 3) The literature on "hebephilia" is pathetically thin, methodologically flawed, and mostly completely irrelevant to whether it should be considered a mental disorder. There is nothing in the few available papers to provide support for "hebephilia" as a mental disorder, no indication of how this alleged diagnosis should be defined, and no evidence that it can be accurately distinguished from simple criminality.

Strike 4: "Hebephilia" is a already forensic nightmare- widely abused in SVP hearings under the false guise of Paraphilia NOS. This will be even more tempting now that the fad of diagnosing rape as a mental disorder is about to end. "Hebephilia" would provide a new misdiagnosis to facilitate improper psychiatric incarceration. DSM 5 should not support this misuse of psychiatry to bail out a purely correctional problem.

The DSM 5 work group made three peculiar proposals- to include rape, hebephilia, and hypersexuality as psychiatric disorders. It has already been forced on the evidence to back track and reject both rape and hypersexuality. The report by Wollert and Cramer makes clear that now is the time for it to reject "hebephilia" and relegate it to the obscurity it has so long and so justly deserved.

UN summit on HIV/AIDS adopts ambitious targets to defeat epidemic .. but

10 June 2011 –

Countries meeting at a United Nations summit in New York today adopted ambitious new targets to defeat AIDS, with the aim of ridding the world of a disease that has claimed more than 30 million lives since it was first reported three decades ago.
The High-level Meeting on AIDS brought together 3,000 participants, including 30 heads of State and government, along with senior officials, representatives of international organizations, civil society and people living with HIV, to chart a path for the future of the AIDS response.

“The momentum we’ve experienced here again confirms the essential role of the UN in the AIDS response,” Paul De Lay, Deputy Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told reporters. “This meeting intends to bring us to the beginning of the end of AIDS.”

The declaration adopted by Member States of the General Assembly contains clear, measurable targets, including to halve sexual transmission of HIV by 2015, to reduce HIV transmission among people who inject drugs by 50 per cent by 2015, to ensure that by 2015 no child will be born with HIV, to increase universal access to antiretroviral therapy, to get 15 million people onto life-saving treatment by 2015, and to halve tuberculosis deaths in people living with HIV by 50 per cent by 2015.

“These bold new targets set by world leaders will accelerate our push to reduce the transmission of HIV,” said Assembly President Joseph Deiss. “The challenge that now remains is to implement these commitments and here leadership and mutual accountability are crucial.”

Member States also pledged to close the global resource gap for AIDS and work towards increasing funding to between $22 and $24 billion per year by 2015.

Dr. De Lay noted that the declaration clearly outlines the urgent need to increase access to HIV services for people most at risk of infection, including men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and sex workers.

The pledge to eliminate gender inequality, gender-based abuse and violence and to empower women and girls must be fulfilled without delay, he added.

This week also featured a number of side events on issues such as women, girls and HIV; faith-based action to prevent HIV; and AIDS and disability.

Addressing an interfaith prayer breakfast this morning, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro stressed how important the voices of religious leaders are in tackling the epidemic.

“You more than anyone can be forceful advocates against stigma. You are natural activists who can change attitudes. You know that protecting lives is as important as saving souls,” she said, urging leaders to speak out, end marginalization and make it clear that their houses of worship are open to all people coping with AIDS.

One of the events that occurred this week that Mr. De Lay described as “momentous” was the launch of a global plan to eliminate new HIV infections in children by 2015, which is intended to stop the 370,000 new HIV infections in children which are currently happening every year and to keep mothers alive.

The other was the adoption by the Security Council of a new resolution that seeks to protect peacekeepers and the communities that they interact with, as well as help end violence against women in conflict.

But ....

The Huffington Post today published a not so feel good article criticising in essence the lack of the business of sex at the summit. An interview was conducted by a huffington reporter

Alexandra Garita, an international policy program officer at IWHC, discuss the declaration and the controversies that arise whenever sex is on the agenda. The declaration, produced every five years, gives U.N. agencies a mandate for their programs and advises governments where best to spend monies.

Q: The declaration speaks of several medical breakthroughs. What do you think of them?

AG: We don't consider that the newer methods are necessarily breakthroughs. For example, male circumcism is recommended in countries with a high prevalence of HIV. And yet the document does not contain language of how important it is not to have sex until all is fully healed. They don't recognize how important it is that the projects to provide that particular method take into account how these men before and after the procedure relate to women, how they have sex and with whom. The research was biased in the beginning in not looking at what happens to women when you offer intervention for men.

Q: And how about the new studies on early intervention of Antiretroviral drugs (ARV) to reduce transmission, which are welcomed as a major breakthrough?

An important development is using ARV treatment much earlier in a person's life in order to reduce the amount of virus in the body. Therefore the person will be less able to transmit the virus to someone else and you can use treatment as prevention. In this document, it is treated as a miracle breakthrough. We don't look at it that way. Probably about half the people in the world who are living with HIV don't know it. You are most infectious right after you have been infected. But at that time you have no symptoms at all so why would you go forward with testing? So to think that a medicine, a drug, is going to end this epidemic when we don't even know how to get more people to come forward for testing -- is really foolish. But debates on how best to end the epidemic go on all the time -- how we should all be giving much more time to prevention. Yet this document ends up with four paragraphs -FOUR!-on prevention. Does that make much sense? No. Not in our book.

Q: Homosexuals and prostitutes were a big issue five years ago, even among some delegates from the Bush administration. Has this changed?

They are in the document for the first time. There was one paragraph that names the community of drug users, men who have sex with men and sex workers. That is very good. But this listing is used once only and then there is UN mumbo-jumbo in other paragraphs where you should have specific references about the kinds of interventions needed to reach this population and what they face in their lives. And there is nothing on human rights for these people (despite the UN secretary-general's speech).

See the full article here

Peace and tolerance

H

Capleton's "Shot him up" .................

So in going through my archives I found an old Capleton track entitled "Shot him up" which was recorded probably way back in his hayday coming into the industry before he branded himself 'The Fire Man" and I was not so out yet and involved directly in advocacy. In some previous posts I had mentioned that the artist song's never really called for the exact form of final punishment for gays and lesbians but this oldie is unmistakable in it's ode for the types of actions to be taken, notably gunshots as prescribed for a male perceived to be involved in same sex activity.

Some of the lyrics from the scruffy mp3 recording which clearly was lifted or ripped from a vinyl record as one can hear the scratches in the background and the somewhat warped sound as compact discs were not so in fashion for singles in our local record industry. The song starts off with an anti oral sex position as is used in other songs of this type back in the day and then it segways into anti homosexual messages as well.

Excerpts include:

"Shot him up, boi yuh mussi batty rider" (batty = bottom or ass or shoot him up you must be an ass rider)

"....wah mek yuh nuh waan vagina?" (what allows you not to want vaginal sex?)

"You condemn, boi yu mussi batty rider we ago kill yuh inna Jamaica" (You're condemned you must be an ass rider we're gonna kill you in Jamaica)

"...Inna man shyt tank man want release ..." (In another man bottom/ass you want to release)

"....give him a coffin and wreath fi a permanent sleep....." (give him a coffin and a wreath for a permanent sleep

"...Mi luv punany bad and mi luv it to mi heart, mi noh mi an de pum pum could neva part" (I love vagina bad and I love it to my heart I know me and the vagina could never part)

"Annmarie and Jennifer mi luv fi see when dem walk inna dem tights and dem pum pum shorts and as mi see dem mi waan tear dem apart" (Annmaire & Jennifer I love see them walk in their tights and vagina exposing shorts and as I see them I want to tear them apart) ("tear them apart" meaning rough sex)

"...some boi dem get nasty and go tun faught pon de oman dem road dem don waan fi walk, dem a ride man donkey an ride man horse, from a boi a battyboi nuh mek him life start" (some boys get nasty and turn (faught = worthless person) on the female's road they don't want to walk they're riding men's donkey (suggesting comparative penis size) from a man is seen as gay his life is not to start

"...from a boi a battyboi gunshot fi bark..." (from a man is deemed gay gunshots are to bark) (he is to be executed)

"...weh dem get dem dirty mind & intention? dem a brag dem a boast bout dem inna name brand from de day mi noh dem dem nuh have no oman" (where they get their dirty minds from what is their intention? they're bragging and boasting they are wearing name brands (clothing/shoes) yet still they do not have a woman)

"....mi nuh see dem wid Sue mi noh see dem wid Pam mi nuh see dem wid Winsome neither Sharon, mi see dem wid Tom mi see dem wid John mi see dem wid Dick and de one name Devon" I don't see them with Sue I don't see them with Pam neither Winsome or neither Sharon I see them with John and other men mostly)

"..look how de oman dem fresh an look how dem young" (look how the women are fresh and look how they are young)

"...some boi dem get nasty and go bow dung den gone outta street gone fuck man bottom from a boi a battyboi we ago gun dat dung" (some biys get nasty and go to have anal sex once you found out we gonna gun you down)

"...lend me the 16 and the magnum from yuh nuh like nuh battyboi clean unu gun" (lend me the m16 and the magnum (popular guns used in Jamaican gangs and sung about) if you don't like a gay man then clean your gun [suggesting either clean ones gun to go and kill someone or empty the shots unto the intended target])

Those are just some of the lines from the song if there is a better quality audio source I would appreciate it as I wanted post it but is sounds scratchy. The typical message of hyper-masculinity is also reinforced in the song, the expectation of men having several female sexual partners and once one does not meet these societal expectations then one is deemed gay. This is indeed sad as one would have imagined someone under the Rastafarian order who not think of calling for death in such a cold manner or in any form for that matter on anyone else when the faith doesn't reflect that kind of end in its teachings. One wonders if these Rastas are really such or just a show to get ahead in the music industry.

It was in Sacramento in November 2010 that he faced some opposition from Stop murder music activists there:

More HERE

Also see: Capleton's Dichotomy: perception vs reality in music from January 2010. Since these responses on the ground he has faced opposition in Europe, the Caribbean and Canada and was said to have signed the Reggae Compassionate Agreement, RCA a document he refutes he has seen. Whenever we find these old tunes we must expose them as the artists who perform them for the most part have not retracted or changed their positions on the damning content, they must be held accountable as public figures.

Peace and tolerance

H

United Nations report: Internet access is a human right

Internet access is a human right, according to a United Nations report released on Friday June 11th 2011.

"Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all states," said the report from Frank La Rue, a special rapporteur to the United Nations, who wrote the document "on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression."

La Rue said in his report that access to the Internet is particularly important during times of political unrest, as demonstrated by the recent "Arab Spring" uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, among other countries.

From the report:

The Special Rapporteur believes that the Internet is one of the most powerful instruments of the 21st century for increasing transparency in the conduct of the powerful, access to information, and for facilitating active citizen participation in building democratic societies.

Indeed, the recent wave of demonstrations in countries across the Middle East and North African region has shown the key role that the Internet can play in mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights.

The report notes that while the Internet has been in existence since the 1960s, it is the way people now use the Internet, across the world and across age groups, with "incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human life," that makes the Internet an unprecedented force.
DOCUMENT: Read the United Nations report

"According to the International Telecommunication Union, the total number of Internet users worldwide is now over 2 billion," the report said, also pointing out the huge growth in the number of active users on Facebook, which has surged from 150 million in 2009 to 600 million this year.

La Rue also urges governments to eschew laws that allow for people's access to the Internet to be blocked.

From the report:

The Special Rapporteur remains concerned that legitimate online expression is being criminalized in contravention of States' international human rights obligations, whether it is through the application of existing criminal laws to online expression, or through the creation of new laws specifically designed to criminalize expression on the Internet.
Such laws are often justified as being necessary to protect individuals' reputation, national security or to counter terrorism. However, in practice, they are frequently used to censor content that the Government and other powerful entities do not like or agree with.

La Rue describes the Internet as "revolutionary" and unlike any other communication medium such as radio, television or printed publications, which are "based on one-way transmission of information."
The Internet, on the other hand, is an "interactive medium" that allows not only for the sharing of information, but also "collaboration in the creation of content," which makes people "no longer passive recipients, but also active publishers of information."

As such, the Internet can be a tool of empowerment and aid in the protection of and access to other human rights -- as well as contributing to growth economically, socially and politically -- benefiting mankind as a whole.

From the report:

Such platforms are particularly valuable in countries where there is no independent media, as they enable individuals to share critical views and to find objective information.

Furthermore, producers of traditional media can also use the Internet to greatly expand their audiences at nominal cost. More generally, by enabling individuals to exchange information and ideas instantaneously and inexpensively across national borders, the Internet allows access to information and knowledge that was previously unattainable.

This, in turn, contributes to the discovery of the truth and progress of society as a whole.

But while La Rue argues that Internet access is a basic human right, he also notes that giving people that right isn't yet always feasible in every nation. But that shouldn't stop governments from trying to give their people affordable access to the Web.

From the report:

Given that access to basic commodities such as electricity remains difficult in many developing States, the Special Rapporteur is acutely aware that universal access to the Internet for all individuals worldwide cannot be achieved instantly.

However, the Special Rapporteur reminds all States of their positive obligation to promote or to facilitate the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression and the means necessary to exercise this right, including the Internet.

Hence, States should adopt effective and concrete policies and strategies –- developed in consultation with individuals from all segments of society, including the private sector as well as relevant Government ministries -– to make the Internet widely available, accessible and affordable to all.

Caricom adopts ambitious targets to defeat HIV/AIDS pandemic

UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — As the three-day extraordinary United Nations' Summit on HIV/AIDS concluded here on Friday, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) has joined the global community in adopting ambitious new targets aimed at ridding the world of a pandemic that has claimed more than 30 million lives since it was first reported three decades ago.

The UN's High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS this week brought together 3,000 participants, including 30 heads of state and government, along with senior officials, representatives of international organisations, civil society and people living with HIV, to chart a path for the future of the AIDS response.

The declaration, adopted by the UN General Assembly, including Caricom states, contains "clear, measurable" targets, geared towards halving sexual transmission of HIV by 2015, reducing HIV transmission among people who inject drugs by 50 per cent by 2015, and ensuring that by 2015 no child will be born with HIV.

The targets are also aimed at increasing universal access to antiretroviral therapy, getting 15 million people onto life-saving treatment by 2015, and halving tuberculosis deaths in people living with HIV by 50 per cent by 2015.

"These bold new targets set by world leaders will accelerate our push to reduce the transmission of HIV," said General Assembly President Joseph Deiss.

"The challenge that now remains is to implement these commitments; and, here, leadership and mutual accountability are crucial."

Member-states also pledged to close the global resource gap for AIDS and work towards increasing funding to between US$22 billion and US$24 billion per year by 2015.

Addressing the High Level Summit, on behalf of Caricom, St Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas, who is also Caricom's lead head for human resource development, health and HIV/AIDS, said, in 10 years, collective action and an increasing level of shared responsibility have given hope that "better must come" to people living with HIV and AIDS.

"Through the dedicated work of natural and behavioural scientists, philanthropists and NGOs (non-governmental organisations), as well as the leadership at the national and global level, great strides have been made," said Dr Douglas, who also chairman of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAPP).

"Scientific research has produced medicines, in particular the generics, to aid care and treatment. The application of behaviour change, through social marketing interventions, has contributed, in no small measure, to arresting the spread of HIV, reducing the number of deaths, from HIV and AIDS and increasing awareness of prevention policies," he added.

In so doing, Dr Douglas said there is the growing realisation of the need for inclusiveness, aimed at the eradication of HIV-related stigma and at enabling equitable access to HIV-related information and services, especially for the most at risk populations.

The St Kitts and Nevis' prime minister said the membership of Caricom and PANCAP has always played a "very active role" in this global process for an accelerated approach to HIV, stating that it is no doubt in the region's self-interest to find solutions, since it still remains second only to sub-Saharan Africa in prevalence rate.

Nevertheless, he said the Caribbean holds out the prospect of being among the first group of countries in the world to achieve universal access.

He said the UNAIDS score card on universal access 2010 demonstrates that "much progress has been made in the Caribbean".

Dr Douglas said over the 10-year period, since the first United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the prevalence rate in the region has stabilised at one per cent overall, with significant variations among respective countries.

He said new HIV infections have declined by 14 per cent, and AIDS-related deaths from HIV and AIDS have also declined by 43 per cent.

Dr Douglas said efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination have intensified, with programmes targeting the formal education sector, the youth, the workplace, and faith-based organisations, among others.

He said engagement of regional universities, other regional institutions, NGOs and the media has also "provided the impetus to the accelerated approach to HIV and AIDS".

But he cautioned that while there is "much to celebrate", the warning signals in the Caribbean still prevail, disclosing that an estimated 17,000 persons became newly infected with HIV in 2009.

He said there are indications that transmission rates among key populations, such as men who have sex with men, are increasing.

In addition, he said unprotected sex between men and women, especially sex work, is believed to be the main mode of HIV transmission, making the Caribbean the only region, besides sub-Saharan Africa, where women and girls outnumber men and boys among people living with HIV.

In 2009, Dr Douglas said, an estimated 53 per cent of people with HIV were female, stating that high infection levels have been found among female sex workers, including four per cent in the Dominican Republic, nine per cent in Jamaica, and 27 per cent in Guyana.

"We, in the Caribbean, have come to recognise that while progress has been made, the gains will be fragile unless innovative and bold steps are taken toward an HIV-free generation," he said.

Caricom ministers and representatives, who also addressed the summit, aligned themselves with Caricom's statement, stating that that their respective countries are doing everything in their power in addressing the deadly disease.

Barbados' Minister for Family, Culture and Sport Stephen Lashley said the achievements and progress of its National AIDS Programme continue to get "necessary support at the highest level".

Lashley said following a successful World Bank "First Project", Barbados has started the execution of the "Second Project", with "a systematic focus" on universal access to care, treatment and support by "reducing new infections, eliminating stigma and discrimination, and significantly reducing AIDS related deaths."

He said there are 18 government ministries, with over half having a "functioning" HIV core group, and that each ministry has an annual action plan for HIV.

"So we have been putting in place the measures and frameworks necessary for achieving the goals set at the beginning of the second World Bank project," he said.

In addition, he said efforts are aimed at increasing the percentage of sex-workers who report the use of condoms with their most recent client.

Jamaica said it has made "noteworthy" progress in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with Health Minister Rudyard Spencer telling the global body that there was an 18 per cent decline in the number of persons who reported with advanced HIV and AIDS cases in 2009 compared to the previous year.

He said AIDS deaths have also declined significantly, moving from 665 in 2004 to 378 in 2009.

Paediatric AIDS deaths also declined by 19 per cent, moving from 32 cases in 2008 to 26 cases in 2009.

Spencer said the expansion of HIV testing in the public sector has resulted in coverage for about 84 per cent of pregnant women and 98 per cent of babies delivered in the public sector.

But despite these advances, he said Jamaica faces "challenges relating to inadequate human resources to effectively scale up testing, treatment and support services.

"The tight fiscal space, which is not unique to Jamaica, undermines the government's commitment to advance in any significant way effective HIV and AIDS strategies," Spencer warned.

"The country will need the continued consistent support of the donor community not just to maintain the gains that we have made but to make great leaps forward in the achievement of various international targets relating to HIV and AIDS," he added.

For its part, Guyana said it has seen "significant progress" in combating HIV/AIDS, which was first diagnosed in the country in 1987.

UN Ambassador George Talbot said resource allocation to the health sector, especially for HIV and AIDS, has been "scaled up," resulting in significant decline in HIV/AIDS infection rates and deaths, while access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support has increased.

In addition, Talbot said Guyana has seen "substantial decreases" in mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He said female sex workers and men having sex with men, among the most vulnerable groups, have decreased in prevalence.

He said the Bharrat Jagdeo administration is "committed to enhancing programmes for access to prevention, treatment, care and support."

Overall, he said Guyana's advances could be attributed to "political commitment at the highest level," as seen in its Presidential Commission, as well as dedication to a multi-sectoral approach and the forging of partnerships, including at the regional and international levels.

Haiti called for political will to support what it described as the "cross-cutting" global response to HIV-AIDS.

Director-General for public health and population, Gabriel Thimothé, said the disease is still a "generalised epidemic," with a 2.2 per cent prevalence rate.

He said that since HIV disproportionately affects women, mother-to-child transmissions are on the rise.

Thimothé said the recent earthquake and cholera outbreak in the impoverished, French-speaking Caribbean country has exacerbated the country's woes and "makes it more difficult to fight the epidemic".

Nevertheless, he said the government is "taking comprehensive steps to combat the disease".