By Angela Collet*
On June 8th, the Human Rights Council approved the appointment of Anand Grover as the new Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The appoitment was proposed by the President of the Council on the basis of recommendations from the Consultative Group.
Anand Grover is an internationally recognized Indian lawyer with years of experience in various branches of law. He has worked with health-related rights and a wide range of population groups including slum dwellers, people living with HIV, cancer patients and mentally challenged individuals. He is a practicing lawyer in the Bombay High Court and Project Director of the Lawyers’ Collective HIV/AIDS Unit. Grover was a member of the drafting group of the International Guidelines on Human Rights & HIV/AIDS and he is currently a member of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights. Grover was also one of the attorneys who presented the case calling for the repeal of Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code in the Delhi High Court this year.
Similar to other Special Procedures Mandates, the nomination of Anand Grover was the culmination of a complex negotiation process at the level of the UN Human Rights Council (see links below). However, it is also important to mention that his candidacy resulted from a consultation conducted in March 2008 by Conectas Human Rights and ABIA (Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association), with the support of Sexuality Policy Watch. The consultation aimed to identify people from the global South who should apply to the post and to signal the following key issues (among others) to the Human Rights Council:
– Civil society organizations from the South were closely following the process leading to the election of a new Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
– The contents and topics addressed by Professor Paul Hunt during the first term of the mandate covered a number of critical issues for the well-being and human rights of people in the Economic South that should be further pursued in the forthcoming cycle;
– Expertise is available in Southern countries to fulfill the requirements of this particular mandate.
For further information, see:
– UNAIDS website
– Health Mandate – UNCHR website
– SPECIAL PROCEDURES BULLETIN – ninth issue: April – June 2008
* Angela Collet is a partner of SPW – Abia Secretariat Team
:: Posted in 09/23/2008 ::