Civil society activism
Gracia Violeta Ross Gracia Violeta Ross co-founded Bolivia’s first organization for people with HIV: the Bolivian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. She has been an advocate since 2000, when she discovered that she was living with HIV. Today in Bolivia people have access to HIV treatment. This came about as a response to a case brought by people living with HIV to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2002, 52 people living with HIV demanded that the Bolivian state take precautionary measures to avoid our deaths. The Commission found in favour of people living with HIV, and the Bolivian government responded in 2004 by sourcing the first donations of antiretroviral medication from Brazil. By that time, only 22 of the original 52 signatories were still alive. A new constitution in Bolivia puts strong civil society at the centre of policy-making and programming. Civil society in Bolivia consists of a wide variety of groups organized by ethnic identity, sex, regional affiliation, labour and many others. In relation to AIDS, all the responses in Bolivia can be traced back to an initial push from civil society. Civil society, however, is facing an identity crisis, and activists who have been working tirelessly long term are facing exhaustion. There are competing global priorities, and HIV is not perceived as a priority any more.
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I am disappointed at the overemphasis of some civil society groups on certain issues such as the right to an identity. This has produced a backlash from governments on the fundamental right to health and life. I also feel strongly that, to reach the vision of zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination, we have to shift the direction of planning and programming so that instead of it coming from Geneva and New York down to the countries, it all happens the other way around. Also, we need accountability about results. Otherwise, the future and basic funding for AIDS will be bleak. Looking to the future and the main barriers to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services in Bolivia, I am concerned by a lack of political commitment and the country’s high dependence on international cooperation, which can be fickle. Civil society is the force that drives change at the country level, and governments respond to our needs. Civil society is in the centre of the problems and solutions. We were ready to act before any resources were available, and we will continue to do so. This is because this advocacy elevates fundamental human rights for all, especially the right to health and the right to life.