HIV/AIDS and the Security Sector in Africa

Edited Obijiofor Aginam and Martin R. Rupiya

PUBLICATION DATA:

ISBN-10: 92-808-1209-2,
ISBN-13: 978-92-808-1209-1

LANGUAGE:

English

PAGES:

296

PRICE:

US$34.00

PUBLISHER:

United Nations University Press

PUBLISHED:

March 2012

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Throughout recorded history, communicable diseases have devastated armies and weakened the capacity of state institutions to perform core security functions. The contemporary “securitization” of HIV/AIDS discourse is reminiscent of the age-old historical links of disease and security. This discourse has compelled many African countries to initiate policies aimed at addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on their security sectors: the armed forces, police and prisons. These policies address a range of issues: the role of peacekeepers in the spread or control of HIV, public health (the need to control HIV) versus human rights (the right not to subject anybody to compulsory/ mandatory medical testing without his consent) dilemma, the gender dimensions of HIV in the armed forces, and the impact of HIV on the police and prisons.

HIV/AIDS and the Security Sector in Africa explores the dynamics of how the security sector of selected African states has responded, or is currently responding, to the complex and multi-faceted challenges of HIV/AIDS. The chapters are written by African practitioners including, in some cases, commissioned officers who are currently serving in the armed forces, medical officers and nurses working in the military, and African policy and academic experts. While this volume does not comprehensively address all aspects of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the security sector, the contributors nonetheless highlight the potentials and limits of existing HIV/AIDS policies in Africa’s security sector.

“This volume provides a forceful reminder of the considerable and ongoing impact of HIV on Africa’s security sector—and the impact of uniformed personnel on the epidemic.”
—Kent Buse, Senior Advisor to Executive Director, UNAIDS

“This book provides significant policy options for overcoming the devastation of HIV/AIDS in the security sector in Africa and beyond.”
—Rebecca Cook, Chair in International Human Rights Law, University of Toronto

“This book is a welcome addition to the often cited, but empirically thin, literature on the links between HIV/AIDS and security.”
—Kelley Lee, Director of Global Health, Simon Fraser University

“The book is without doubt a major contribution to the study of HIV/AIDS and the security sector in Africa.”
—Muna Ndulo, Professor of Law, Cornell University

“The book is a systematic study of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the military, peacekeeping forces, the police and correctional services.”
—Charles Ngwena, Professor of Law, University of the Free State

About the Editors

Obijiofor Aginam is Academic Officer and Head of Section for International Cooperation and Development in the United Nations University’s Institute for Sustainability and Peace, Tokyo, Japan. He is also Adjunct Research Professor of Law at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Martin R. Rupiya is currently Executive Director, African Public Policy and Research Institute (APPRI), Pretoria, South Africa. He was formerly manager of the Military and HIV/AIDS (MilAIDS) project, and Senior Researcher in the Defence Sector Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Pretoria, South Africa.

Table of contents:

Introduction, Obijiofor Aginam and Martin R. Rupiya
Understanding the dynamics of HIV/AIDS and the security
sector in Africa: An overview , Obijiofor Aginam, Martin R. Rupiya, Johanna Stratton and Andrea Ottina

Part I: HIV/AIDS and the military: National and sub-regional perspectives

HIV/AIDS and the South African National Defence Force: Anecdotal evidence from outside and within, Lindy Heinecken
Policy, security and outcomes: HIV/AIDS and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Charles Bakahumura
The ECOWAS regional framework on HIV/AIDS and the military in West Africa,  Ayodele Akenroye
HIV and the military: A Human Rights Impact Assessment of Nigeria’s Armed Forces HIV/AIDS Control Policy Guidelines, Babafemi Odunsi
Challenges to the regeneration of the armed forces: HIV/AIDS and its impact on the military life-cycle, Gerald Gwinji
A civil society perspective on the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force policy response to HIV/AIDS, Nathi Gumede

Part II: HIV/AIDS and peacekeeping in Africa

Culture and HIV/AIDS in African peacekeeping operations, Gwinyayi Albert Dzinesa
The African Union and the HIV/AIDS crisis: Harnessing alternative policy options, Olajide O. Akanji
The Zambia Defence Force: Considerations on peacekeeping and HIV/AIDS, Lawson F. Simapuka
A disorderly resolution of an organized conflict: The military dimension and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone, Olubowale Josiah Opeyemi

Part III: HIV/AIDS: Perspectives on the police and prisons

Policing against stigma and discrimination: HIV/AIDS in the Zambia Police Service,  Charles M. Banda
HIV/AIDS in Cameroon: The policy response of the police, Polycarp Ngufor Forkum
Policy challenges on HIV/AIDS and prisons: Towards a southern African template, Martin R. Rupiya
HIV/AIDS among Cameroonian prison staff: Response to a deadly challenge, Tayou André Lucien

Part IV: HIV/AIDS: Gender and other emerging issues

HIV/AIDS and women in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces: A gender perspective, Getrude P. S. Mutasa
Rape and HIV/AIDS as weapons of war: Human rights and health issues in post-conflict societies,  Obijiofor Aginam