Explanatory Note, with Key References

• Pages: XIII-XIV

The Guide is intended to be of practical use for legal reform to support effective action against HIV/AIDS. It does not aspire to provide a complete treatment of any of the 65 topics that are addressed. Rather, the Guide seeks to alert those working on AIDS strategies and projects to opportunities for legal and policy reform and to provide them with tools to tackle the job effectively. To achieve this, we adopted the following format for each topic: first, we identify the specific issue or issues raised by the topic, and we follow that with a discussion of the pertinent legal and policy considerations. Then we give at least one good practice example (often providing actual statutory language), and follow that up with a list of key references.

We realize that all of the topics could be discussed at greater length, and that a more detailed analysis of what is found in national statute books might be beneficial. However, to keep to the format of a user-friendly guide, we limited ourselves to just a few pages per topic. Hence the importance of the section on references: we count on readers who need to know more to check the sources and materials listed in the references section at the end of each topic.

That being said, there are three reference works that should be consulted first in any further research on almost any of the topics included in the Guide. Instead of repeating them 65 times, we list them here. But this is not just a measure to avoid repetition or to save paper: it is also a way of giving them the special prominence they deserve. They have been a prime source of inspiration...