HIV/AIDS is a human rights issue ?

HIV/AIDS is a human rights issue ? this is a core belief of one of the University of KwaZulu-Natal?s top law students of 2003, Andreas Coutsoudis.

?The HIV/AIDS epidemic cuts across everything in our society,? he said during an interview with Sondela held just before he graduated with the highest honours last year. ?Within every social structure - the family, the economy, general development, education, housing - there are many legal issues underlying the effects of HIV/AIDS, and our Constitution and Bill of Rights make them even more important.?

As an achiever in the School of Law (in what was then the University of Natal in Durban), Andreas was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England; the award was made in recognition of his outstanding academic performance, leadership qualities and activism for social and community causes. During his years of study he not only received many prizes and certificates of merit for his results, but also devoted time and energy to student governance (as President of the Law Student Council) and in championship debating and legal argument (which included membership of a winning team competing against others from all over Africa).

For three years, Andreas was active in the loveLife Debating Outreach Programme, assisting with its ?Lifestyle for Leadership? project, which is aimed at youth in under-resourced, rural communities. ?Young people need to believe that there is something to live for,? explained Andreas. ?We found that the girls and boys we worked with at the Y-Centres really love debating, so it was very rewarding for me to be able to pass on my debating experience by teaching them these skills to competitive level.?
His volunteer team of senior student co-ordinators tutored the learners and their teachers for contest against their counterparts from the urban schools, with loveLife sponsoring transport costs and other expenses for hundreds of scholars to attend the sessions.

?We held debates about many topics, not only HIV/AIDS, but also issues such as the law, general human rights, educational policies and various social problems,? recalled Andreas. ?We made the questions stimulating, so that the youth could learn to think critically for themselves and also consider the opposing side?s point of view. Above all, we wanted to inspire them so that they could have some idea of the career opportunities that these skills could equip them for ??

For most of this year, Andreas will concentrate on his work as assistant to Justice Skweyiya of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, doing research, legal writing and general case management. ?I am learning a great deal in working with my judge,? says Andreas. He will pursue his higher legal studies once the new academic year begins at Oxford University in the UK, but is determined return to South Africa and contribute his expertise to civil society, whether this be through HIV/AIDS advocacy or working as a lawyer for Land Rights. He feels very strongly about the role that both the media and the justice system can play in addressing social inequalities.

?Everything I have done and will do would be wasted if I did not offer my skills back to my country and its people,? he says. ?I was raised by my parents to live by these values. My father is a pastor, and my mother (Anna) is a biomedical researcher working with HIV-positive mothers and children on prevention of HIV transmission. She is also the founder of iThemba Lethu transition home for babies in Cato Manor and of a breastmilk bank for nutritious infant-feeding.

As a family, we help each other and share our thoughts and feelings about our projects.? And Andreas?s message to members of all our communities? ?I think many South Africans are willing to connect and share their skills and resources in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and on other social challenges. It will take time, but we are becoming more unified, and we can build our own rights-based legal structures from within and from the ground up.?

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