In honor of World AIDS Day, Jean-Eric Nkurikiye, a human rights researcher and campaigner with more than 15 years of experience, talks to myGwork about his work in human rights and HIV prevention across nations, the importance of access to information, and how to combat misconceptions.

Image credit: Jean Eric Nkurikiye

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your career to date?

I am Jean-Eric Nkurikiye, I am a human rights defender/ independent consultant originally from Burundi in Africa living in London, United Kingdom. I have been working within the human rights sector for more than 15 years starting with the leading human rights organisation Amnesty International at the international secretariat in London and at their regional offices in Africa in Kampala, Uganda and Dakar, Senegal as the Central Africa campaigner in the Africa programme.

As the Central Africa campaigner, I covered several countries in the region and several thematic human rights including Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans (LGBT) rights in the region. With the experience and knowledge gained at Amnesty International, I decided that it was time to specifically work on LGBT rights on the continent which I have done since first with African Men for Sexual Health and Rights ( AMSHeR ) a pan-African network of LGBT/MSM led organisations based in Johannesburg, South Africa as the Assistant Director of the organisation and as the Capacity Strengthening Manager for 2 years before joining Frontline AIDS, a global partnership to end HIV/AIDs where I led the management of their Emergency fund for LGBT organisations in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean called, the Rapid Response Fund (RRF).

What is your experience with HIV/AIDS?

It is a pretty broad question. On a personal level, I experienced first-hand the effect of HIV/AIDS while I was growing up back home in Burundi where I saw a lot of family members dying of AIDS in its early days when acquiring it was a death sentence and most of those who had it did not survive, unfortunately. I, later on, had the opportunity to get more knowledge as an adult in the UK within the gay community where there were a lot of campaigns on prevention in the places I frequented. I also met some people who I became friends with that are HIV positive, and we are still friends.

On a professional level, I would say that working at AMSHeR in Johannesburg, South Africa allowed me to gain more experience, knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS and the impact of the epidemic on LGBT communities in the African context as well as the knowledge of socio-economic and political realities of HIV work. I have further gained more experience on HIV by managing or rather leading the management of the Frontline AIDS emergency fund entitled Rapid Response Fund (RRF) which provided emergency grants to support LGBT people facing stigma, discrimination and threats of violence that impact their access to HIV services in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and South-East Asia.

What are the misconceptions about people living with HIV?

Having worked in different countries and different contexts I think that the misconceptions are completely different from one country to another depending on the level of awareness about HIV in the country. I would say that the biggest misconception is that people living with HIV can no longer lead healthy and positive lives and that their life is over. But today people living with HIV who are on treatment can live normal, healthy and productive lives as long as they take their drugs and those with undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV sexually.

In your knowledge, what does your workplace do to ensure a safe and inclusive work environment for people living with HIV?

I am currently working as an independent consultant, so I would respond to this question based on my previous workplaces where I have worked in the UK. I have always worked within the human rights sector where the level of HIV awareness was high, including inclusive policies being in place and easy to access. One thing I would like to emphasise is that the workplaces ensured that staff were provided with diversity and equality training which included information on HIV and the importance of confidentiality at work.

What do you think is the next course of action to improve conditions for people living with HIV in the workplace and wider society?

Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV are still pervasive in some workplaces and in the wider society compelling some people not to disclose their status. I would therefore say that we still need to keep raising awareness about HIV in workplaces and wider society and most importantly champion those that are open about their HIV status to render the issue more visible.