Associação Amigos da Vida

Direito e Cidadania

Legal assistance for people living with and children orphaned because of HIV/AIDS

Amigos da Vida provides free legal representation to people living with HIV/AIDS on issues related to employment law, securing social security benefits, as well as civil and administrative law. There are a growing number of HIV positive individuals who want to know their rights and seek refuge and protection in the law. Today, the Distrito Federal is home to 12,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and the organization is the only one that provides this type of legal service.

In addition to the services it already offers, the organization will also provide support in the adoption process of children orphaned because of AIDS, and it will lobby for the approval and regulation of laws that directly benefit people living with HIV/AIDS, like the law that criminalizes discrimination based on HIV/AIDS positive status and the deliberate transmition of the virus.

With support from BrazilFoundation, the organization will provide:

-Legal assistance and advocacy;
-A proposal on legal measures to guarantee access to medication;
-HIV/AIDS activism and leadership training;
-Workshops and panel discussions on the rights guaranteed by law;
-Lobbying services in the Federal Congress for the approval of laws that protect people living with HIV/AIDS.

IMPACT

Legal Assistance that benefits 1800 people
Legal representation in the adoption of children orphaned because of AIDS
Advocacy in Congress to pass laws

“It is of great importance that NGOs monitor laws proposed in Congress that affect the lives of individuals living with HIV/AIDS”. – Christiano Ramos – Founder of Amigos da Vida