Knowing Your Rights is Something, But Not Enough: Exploring Collective Advocacy and Rights to Treatment and Services for People Living with HIV in Tanzania
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/0304-615X/2071Keywords:
advocacy, accountability, PLWHIV, right-based approach, TanzaniaAbstract
Citizen and collective advocacy is often regarded as a critical way to hold governments to account for the services they are expected to deliver and combat the marginalisation of certain groups. This article presents a qualitative analysis of the application of a “rightsbased” and advocacy approach as a means for People Living with HIV (PLWHIV) to claim their legislative rights to basic services such as education, and combat behaviour that is stigmatising. Data was obtained from a project in Northern Tanzania that works with more than 40 self-help groups to empower them to claim their rights as stipulated in the 2008 HIV/AIDS Act. The findings suggest that knowing one’s rights does seem to enable groups to start asking questions about their entitlements to services. However, it is not enough for one to simply know their rights when their actions and responses are fundamentally limited by lack of resource and power, vague legislative commitments and weak local institutional capacity to respond. These findings have implications for the many social policy initiatives, which seek to use citizen or group-based advocacy to address discrimination or poor public service delivery.
References
Anderson, E. L. 2012. Infectious Women: Gendered Bodies and HIV in Malawi. International Feminist Journal of Politics 14(2): 267 – 287. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2012.659850 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2012.659850
Baylies, C. 2002. "The Impact of AIDS on Rural Households in Africa: A Shock Like Any Other?" Development & Change 33(4): 611 – 632. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00272 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00272
Beckmann, N., and J. Bujra. 2010. "'The Politics of the Queue': The Politicization of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania." Development and Change 41(6): 1041 – 1064. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2010.01672.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2010.01672.x
Boesten, J. 2007. "Precarious Future: Community Volunteers and HIV/AIDS in a Tanzanian Roadside Town." ICPS Working Paper No 4. Bradford, International Centre for Participation Studies, University of Bradford.
Boesten, J. 2011. "Navigating the AIDS Industry: Being Poor and Positive in Tanzania." Development & Change 42(3): 781 – 803. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2011.01713.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2011.01713.x
Boesten, J., A. Mdee and F. Cleaver, 2011. "Service Delivery on the Cheap?: Community-Based workers in Tanzania and South Africa." Development in Practice 21(2011): 41 – 58. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2011.530230 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2011.530230
Burchardt, M. 2010. "Ironies of Subordination: Ambivalences of Gender in Religious AIDS Interventions on South Africa." Oxford Development Studies 38(1): 63 – 82. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600810903548708 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13600810903548708
Chang, H. J. 2012. 23 Things They Don't Tell you About Capitalism. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Cleaver, F., and A. Toner. 2006. "The Evolution of Community Water Governance in Uchira, Tanzania: The Implications for Equality of Access, Sustainability and Effectiveness." Natural Resources Forum 30(3): 207 – 218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2006.00115.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2006.00115.x
Copeland, T. 2011. "Poverty, Nutrition, and A Cultural Model of Managing HIV/AIDS Among Women in Nairobi, Kenya." Annals of Anthropological Practice 35(2011): 81 – 97. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-9588.2011.01068.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-9588.2011.01068.x
Cornwall, A., and C. Nyamu-Musembi. 2004. "Putting the 'Right-Based' Approach to Development in Perspective." Third World Quarterly 25(8): 1415 – 1437. https://doi.org/10.1080/0143659042000308447 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0143659042000308447
Cousins, B. 2009. "Capitalism Obscured: The Limits of Law and Rights-Based Approaches to Poverty Reduction and Development." Journal of Peasant Studies 36(4): 893 – 908. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150903354098 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150903354098
Dancer, H. 2015. Women, Land and Justice in Tanzania. Woodbridge, UK: James Currey, xxiii + 191 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781782045205
Feldacker, C., S. Ennett and I. Speizer. 2011. "It's Not Just Who You Are But Where You Live: An Exploration of Community Influences on Individual HIV Status in Rural Malawi." Social Science & Medicine 72(2011): 717 – 725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.01.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.01.003
Flechner, D. 2005. "A Human Rights Approach to Protecting People Living With HIV/AIDS in Angola." International Social Science Journal 57(186): 627 – 637. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2005.00580.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2005.00580.x
Gready, P. 2008. "Rights-Based Approaches to Development: What is the Value Added?" Development in Practice 18(6): 735 – 747. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520802386454 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520802386454
Green, M. 2013. "Anticipatory Development: Mobilizing Civil Society in Tanzania." Critique of Anthropology 32(3) 309 – 33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X12449107 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X12449107
Green, M., and D. Hulme. 2005. "From Correlates and Characteristics to Causes: Thinking About Poverty From a Chronic Poverty Perspective." World Development 33(6): 867 – 879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.09.013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.09.013
Grindle, M. 2004. "Good Enough Governance: Poverty Reduction and Reform in Developing Countries." Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions 17(4):525 – 548. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0952-1895.2004.00256.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0952-1895.2004.00256.x
Heywood, M. 2009. "South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign: Combining Law and Social Mobilization to Realize the Right to Health." Journal of Human Rights Practice 1(1), 14 – 36. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/hun006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/hun006
Kathewera-Banda, M., F. Gomile-Chidyaonga, S. Hendriks, T. Kachika, Z. Mitole and S. White. 2005. "Sexual Violence and Women’s Vulnerability to HIV Transmission in Malawi:A Rights Issue." International Social Science Journal 57(186): 649 – 660. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2005.00582.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2005.00582.x
Lange, S. 2008. "The Depoliticisation of Development and the Democratisation of Politics in Tanzania: Parallel Structures as Obstacles to Delivering Services to the Poor." The Journal of Development Studies 44: (8) 1122 – 1144 https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380802242396 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380802242396
Mansuri, G., and V. Rao. 2004. "Community-Based and Community-Driven Development: A Critical Review." World Bank Research Observer 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lkh012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lkh012
Marsland, R. 2006. "Community Participation the Tanzanian Way: Conceptual Contiguity or Power Struggle?" Oxford Development Studies 34 (1): 65 –7 9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13600810500496053
Marsland, R. 2012. "(Bio) sociality and HIV in Tanzania: Finding a Living to Support a Life." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 26, 470 – 485. https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12002
Oglethorpe, J., and N. Gelman. 2008. "AIDS, Women, Land and Natural Resources in Africa: Current Challenges." Gender & Development 16(1): 85 – 100. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552070701876276 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13552070701876276
Poku, N., and A. Mdee. 2011. Politics in Africa: A New Introduction. London & New York, Zed Books.
Samuel, J. 2007. "Public Advocacy and People-Centered Advocacy: Mobilising for Social Change." Development in Practice 17 (4–5): 615 – 621. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469773 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469773
Samuels, F., and N. Rutenburg. 2008. "HIV, Food and Drugs." ODI Briefing Paper. London, Overseas Development Institute.
Seckinelgin, H., J. Bigirumwami and J. Morris. 2011. "Conflict and Gender: The Implications of the Burundian Conflict on HIV/AIDS Risks." Conflict, Security & Development 11(1): 55 – 77. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2011.552247 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2011.552247
Slater, R. 2004. "The Implications of HIV/AIDS for Social Protection." Research Paper. London, Overseas Development Institute.
TACAIDS. 2008. "Facts and Figures/Statisitics." Available at: http://www.tacaids.go.tz/strategic-documents/facts-and-figures-statistics.html (accessed December 16, 2011).
TACAIDS.2010. PUBLIC EXPENDITURE REVIEW 2007–2009 HIV AND AIDS.
Tanzania Mainland, Dar-es-Salaam:, Tanzanian Commission for HIV/AIDS.
Tadros, M. 2015. "Beyond Tinkering with the System: Rethinking Gender, Power and Politics." IDS Bulletin 46(4)66 – 75. https://doi.org/10.1111/1759-5436.12159 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1759-5436.12159
UNAIDS. 2009. "Tanzania: County Situation 2009. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS."
UNAIDS. 2014a. "United Republic of Tanzania." Available at: http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/unitedrepublicoftanzania (Accessed, May 19, 2016)
UNAIDS. 2014b.The United Republic of Tanzania. Global AIDS Response Country Progress Report. Available at: http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/country/documents/TZA_narrative_report_2014.pdf (accessed May 19, 2016).
URT. 2008. HIV/AIDS Prevention & Control Act. Dar-es-Saaam, Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania.
White, J., and J. Morton. 2005.. "Mitigating Impacts of HIV/AIDS on Rural Livelihoods: NGO Experiences in sub-Saharan Africa." Development in Practice 15(186 – 99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520500041757
Wild, L., Booth, D. Cummings, C., Foresti, M. and Wales, J. 2015. "Adapting Development: Improving Services to the Poor." Overseas Development Institute: London. Available at: https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9437.pdf.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Accepted 2017-07-11
Published 2017-10-26
