They also recognized that human rights status plays a major role in determining reproductive health. The fact that this explicit recognition exists in the Cairo and Beijing documents is particularly useful because the language and the concepts that are found in these documents represent the consensus and political commitment of governments around the world. This means that we can not only access the language and concepts but can also put them to use. This is true in prevention, in care, and in research. We must be far more vigilant not only in monitoring what is happening, but also in ensuring accountability for what governments are and, more important, are not doing.
Human rights belong to everyone.
Exactly what this means with respect to their interpretation, advocacy, and defence is constantly evolving. The world of human rights and AIDS floats between two extremes. The legalistic approach has the merit of maintaining credibility with governments and institutions of power. The activist approach ensures that rights remain relevant to our changing world.