Human rights intersect with HIV and AIDS on a number of levels, including but not limited to:

The right to work: people living with HIV and AIDS may be dismissed from work if their HIV status becomes public.

The right to health: people living with HIV have the right to access the medical care they need, including antiretroviral therapy as well as other care and treatment services.

The right to education: the education of children living in households affected by HIV is often adversely affected, either because they are assuming caring responsibilities, or because of stigma and discrimination in their communities

A rights-based approach emphasises the role of the state in ensuring the realisation of human rights for its citizens. It recognises the importance of empowerment through citizen participation and involvement and decision making.

It focuses on the underlying causes, is policy-oriented and encourages a holistic attitude to finding lasting solutions.

At the core of ZARAN’s rights-based approach to HIV is the need to address the underlying determining factors behind vulnerability to infection as well as the negative impacts of HIV and AIDS

This includes:
• empowering people living with or affected by HIV to demand their rights
• helping the state and other duty bearers to understand their role in promoting rights in the context of HIV
• ensuring rights realisation by addressing human rights violations.

ZARAN also sees the rights-based approach as a framework for accountability by providing a standard of measurement.

In summary, ZARAN sees the rights-based approach as being critical in the HIV and AIDs response in order to
• Reduce vulnerability to infection
• Empower communities to participate
• Mitigate the impact of the negative effects of HIV and AIDS