Nonbinding Legal Instruments in Governance for Global Health: Lessons from the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics

Volumn 42, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 72-87

  Taylor, Allyn ^a,b   Alfoén, Tobias ^c   Hougendobler, Daniel ^a   Buse, Kent ^c  

^a GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER   (United States)

^b JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNAIDS   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GLOBAL HEALTH; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HUMAN; HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; LEGISLATION AND JURISPRUDENCE; MANDATORY REPORTING; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION;

GLOBAL HEALTH; HEALTH POLICY; HIV INFECTIONS; HUMANS; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; MANDATORY REPORTING; WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION;

EID: 84931568068     PISSN: 10731105     EISSN: 1748720X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/jlme.12120     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. WHO, WHO's Role in Global Health Governance: Report by the Director-General, Executive Board Report, EB 132/5 Add. 5 (January 18, 2013); WHO, WHO Reform: Report by the Director-General, World Health Assembly Document, A65/40 (March 22, 2012) (identifying "international agreed instruments" as a priority function of WHO in achieving its mandate "to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work"). The Draft Twelfth General Progamme of Work emphasizes that WHO's multilateral convening function in bringing countries together to negotiate conventions and other international agreements is a practical expression of WHO's function to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work and bring greater coherence and coordination to global health governance. The draft also identifies WHO's role in global health governance as a strategic priority. WHO, Draft Twelfth General Programme of Work, World Health Assembly Document, WHA 66/6 (April 19, 2013).
2. See R.Roemer et al., "Origins of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, " American Journal of Public Health95, no. 6 (2005): 936-938
3. A. L. Taylor, "Making the World Health Organization Work: A Legal Framework for Universal Access to the Conditions for Health, " American Journal of Law and Medicine 18, no. 4 (1992): 301-346.
4. A. L.Taylor, "Governing the Globalization of Public Health, " Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics32, no. 3 (2004): 500-508
5. W. Hein, "The New Dynamics of Global Health Governance, " in @1, eds., Global Health Diplomacy: Concepts, Issues, Actors, Instruments, Fora and Cases (New York: Springer, 2012): at 55-72.
6. G. Walt, K. Buse, and A. Harmer, "Cooperation in Global Public Health, " in M. H. Merson, R. E. Black, and A. J. Mills, eds., Global Health: Diseases, Programs, Systems, and Policies, 3rd ed. (Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2012): at 853-884.
7. K. Buse et al., "Global Health Governance: The Emerging Agenda, " in K. Buse, W. Hein, and N. Drager, eds., Making Sense of Global Health Governance: A Policy Perspective (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2009).
8. A. L.Taylor and I. S.Dhillon, "An International Legal Strategy for Alcohol Control: Not A Framework Convention - At Least Not Yet, " Addiction108, no. 3 (2013): 450-455.
9. WHO, The Future of Financing for WHO, Report of an Informal Consultation Convened by the Director-General, Geneva, Switzerland, January 12-13, 2010 (2010).
10. WHO, WHO's Role in Global Health Governance, Executive Board document, EB 132/5 Add. 5 (January 18, 2013).
11. World Health Organization, "About WHO, " available at (last accessed February 7, 2014)
12. J. C. Chow, "Is the WHO Becoming Irrelevant?" Foreign Policy, December 8, 2010, available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
13. D. Kapur, "Processes of Change in International Organizations, " in D. Nayyar, ed., Governing Globalization: Issues and Institutions (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002): at 334-355.
14. K.Buse and C.Naylor, "Commercial Health Governance, " in @1, eds., Making Sense of Global Health Governance: A Policy Perspective, (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2009); see Taylor, supra note 3.
15. World Health Organization, "Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, " available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
16. R.Room et al., "International Regulation of Alcohol: A Framework Convention is Needed, as for Tobacco Control, " BMJ337, no. 7681 (2008): 1248-1249
17. S. Casswell and T. Thamarangsi, Reducing Harm from Alcohol: Call to Action," The Lancet 373, no. 9682 (2009): 2247-2257.
18. Editorial, "Urgently Needed: A Framework Convention for Obesity Control?" The Lancet378, no. 9793 (2011): 741.
19. K.Abbott, G.Marchant, and D.Sylvester, "A Framework Convention for Nanotechnology?" Environmental Law Reporter38 (2008): 10507-10514;
20. I.Kickbush, "Mapping the Future of Public Health: Action on Global Health, " Revue Canadienne De Santé Publique97, no. 1 (2006): 6-8
21. L. O. Gostin, "A Framework Convention on Global Health: Health for All, Justice for All, " JAMA 307, no. 19 (2012): 2087-2092
22. M. Sidibé and K. Buse, "A Framework Convention on Global Health: A Catalyst for Justice, " Bulletin of the World Health Organization 90, no. 12 (2012): 870-870.
23. A. L.Taylor, "Global Health Law, " in @1, eds., Global Health Diplomacy: Concepts, Issues, Actors, Instruments, Fora and Cases (New York: Springer, 2012): AT 37-54.
24. G. Palmer, "New Ways to Make International Environmental Law, " American Journal of International Law86, no. 2 (1992): 259-283 (environmental law)
25. D. E. Ho, "Compliance and International Soft Law: Why Do Countries Implement the Basel Accord?" Journal of International Economic Law 5, no. 3 (2002): 647-688
26. J. J. Kirton and M. J. Trebilcock, Hard Choices, Soft Law (Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2004)
27. B.Kingsbury, N.Krisch, and R.Stewart, "The Emergence of Global Administrative Law, " Law and Contemporary Problems68, no. 3/4 (2005): 15-62
28. D. Vogel, The Globalization of Pharmaceutical Regulation," Governance 11, no. 1 (1998): 1-22.
29. K.Abbott and D.Snidal, "Hard and Soft Law in International Governance, " International Organization54, no. 3 (2000): 421-456.
30. See, e.g., A. T.Guzman and T. L.Meyer, "International Soft Law, " Journal of Legal Analysis2, no. 1 (2011): 171-225
31. T. Grnchalla-Wesierski, "A Framework for Understanding 'Soft Law, '" McGill Law Journal 30, no. 1 (1984): 37-88.
32. H.Hillgenberg, "A Fresh Look at Soft Law, " European Journal of International Law10, no. 3 (1999): 499-515.
33. Food and Agriculture Organization, Code of Conduct on Responsible Fisheries, available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
34. Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, G.A. Dec. S-26/2, U.N. Doc. A/S-26/L.2 (June 27, 2001) [hereinafter "Declaration of Commitment"].
35. A.Alonzo and N.Reynolds, "Stigma, HIV and AIDS: An Exploration and Elaboration of a Stigma Trajectory, " Social Science & Medicine41, no. 3 (1995): 303-315.
36. A.Whiteside and D.FitzSimons, "The AIDS Epidemic: Economic, Political and Security Implications, " Conflict Studies251, no. 1 (1992): 1-37
37. P. Fourie and M. Schoneich, "Africa's New Security Threat: HIV/AIDS and Human Security in Southern Africa, " African Security Review 10, no. 4 (2001): 29-44.
38. M.Warner-Smith et al., "Monitoring the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, " Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes52, Supp. 2 (2009): S77-S86.
39. UNAIDS, Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting 2012: Guidelines: Construction of Core Indicators for Monitoring the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS8 (2011) [hereinafter "2012 Reporting Guidelines"]
40. UNAIDS, 2012 Progress Reports Submitted by Countries, available at (last visited February 7, 2014)
41. UNAIDS, Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting 2013 Guidelines, Construction of Core Indicators for Monitoring the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS 8 (2013) [hereinafter "2013 Reporting Guidelines"], available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
42. D.Rugg et al., "Are We on Course for Reporting on the Millennium Development Goals in 2015?" Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes52, Supp. 2 (2009): S69-S76.
43. UNAIDS, "Indicator Registry, " available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
44. UNAIDS, "AIDSinfo, " available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
45. UNAIDS, "Know Your Response, " available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
46. G.Peersman et al., "Increasing Civil Society Participation in the National HIV Response: The Role of UNGASS Reporting, " Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes52, Supp. 2 (2009): S97-S103.
47. International Council of AIDS Service Organizations, AIDS Advocacy Alert: Reviewing National AIDS Responses - How to Get Involved, August 2007, available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
48. UNAIDS, "Three Ones" Key Principles: "Coordination of National Responses to HIV/AIDS" Guiding Principles for National Authorities and Their Partners, Conference Paper 1, Washington Consultation, April 25, 2004, available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
49. UNAIDS, UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2010 (November 23, 2010).
50. UNAIDS, UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2012 (November 20, 2012).
51. UNICEF, Dublin Declaration on Partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia, 24 February 2004, available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
52. European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Monitoring implementation of the European Commission Communication and Action Plan for Combating HIV/AIDS in the European Union and Neighbouring Countries, 2009 - 2013 (April 2012), at 34, available at (last visited February 7, 2014).
53. P.Piot, S.Timberlake, and J.Sigurdson, "Governance and the Response to AIDS: Lessons for Development and Human Rights, " in @1, eds., Realizing the Right to Health (Switzerland: Ruffer & Rub, 2012): 331, at 338.
54. UNAIDS, "2010 National Composite Policy Index (NCPI) Reports - Countries, " available at (last visited February 9, 2014).
55. United Nations General Assembly, Uniting for Universal Access: Towards Zero New HIV Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS-Related Deaths, Report of the Secretary-General, U.N. Rep. 65/797, U.N. Doc. A/65/797 (March 28, 2011).
56. S.Gruskin and L.Ferguson, Supporting Countries to Prepare for the Next Round of UNGASS Reporting: Human Rights and the NCPI, Program on International Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health (2009).
57. R.Beaglehole, R.Bonita, and R.Horton, "Independent Global Accountability for NCDs, " The Lancet381, no. 9867 (2013): 602-605.
58. See, e.g., A. L.Taylor and I.Dhillon, "Transformative Diplomacy: Negotiation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, " in @1, eds., Negotiating and Navigating Global Health (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing 2012): AT 101-127.
59. B.Simmons, "Compliance with International Agreements, " Annual Review of Political Science1 (1998): 75-93, available at (last visited February 17, 2014).
60. T.Franck, The Power of Legitimacy among Nations (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990).
61. F.Sindico, "Soft Law and the Elusive Quest for Sustainable Global Governance, " Leiden Journal of International Law19, no. 3 (2006): 829-846.
62. C.Collins, T.Coates, and G.Szekes, "Accountability in the Global Response to HIV: Measuring Progress, Driving Change, " AIDS22, Supp. 2 (2008): S105-s111.
63. People with AIDS Self-Empowerment Movement, The Denver Principles (1983), available at (last visited February 9, 2014).
64. The Paris Declaration, Paris AIDS Summit (December 1, 1994), available at (last visited February 9, 2014).
65. Global Policy4, no. 2 (2013): 139-149.
66. A. L.Taylor, "Forum Shopping in International Health Lawmaking: Implications for Global Health Governance Reform, " paper presented at the University of California Hastings College of Law Faculty Colloquium, October 2012.
67. J.Liberman, "Alternative Legal Strategies for Alcohol Control: Not a Framework Convention - At Least Not Right Now, " Response to A. L Taylor and I. S. Dhillon, supra note 6.