FORUM: “From Roots to resilience: Seagrass in action.” World Seagrass Day 2026. Seagrass ecosystems are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities, climate change, and natural disasters, putting the marine life that depends on them at risk. In recent years, however, the global movement to conserve these vital ecosystems has gained significant momentum. Seagrasses have been declining globally since the 1930s, with the most recent census estimating that 7% of this key marine habitat is being lost worldwide per year. It was recently noted that 21% of seagrass species are categorized as Near Threatened, Vulnerable and Endangered Species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The combined pressures of coastal development, pollution, including land-based run-off, climate change, dredging and unregulated fishing and boating activities are key drivers of the degradation of seagrasses and their associated ecosystems. Seagrass improve water quality by filtering, cycling and storing nutrients and pollutants, reducing contamination in seafood.
The benefits from conserving and restoring seagrass meadows can also help countries achieve 26 targets and indicators associated with ten Sustainable Development Goals.
Inclusion of seagrass ecosystems in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is also critical for protecting the integrity of marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
PUBLICATIONS: Seagrasses are one of the most widespread coastal habitats on the planet. They provide a range of environmental, economic and social benefits to humans, making them one of the most valuable coastal and marine ecosystems on Earth, but they are under threat.
A new study maps the spatial distribution and status of seagrass beds along Manora’s coast in Tamil Nadu, a known dugong habitat, using acoustics and ground-truthing techniques, underscoring the potential for seagrass restoration.
FORUM: "People first". Zero Discrimination Day 2026. As the world works toward ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, we cannot succeed if discrimination stands in the way. Zero Discrimination Day highlights how we can all become informed and promote inclusion, compassion, peace and, above all, a movement for change. This year, UNAIDS shines a light on the persistent discrimination faced by people living with and at risk of HIV, discrimination that undermines access to health services, violates rights, and holds back progress toward ending AIDS by 2030. This year's Zero Discrimination Day highlights the need to put people first. The evidence is clear: HIV‑related stigma and discrimination put lives at risk. Based on data from more than 30,000 people living with HIV across 25 countries, stigma and discrimination remain pervasive barriers to health access, dignity, and human rights. According to the People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0 Global Report, nearly one in four report being stigmatized by others, including in healthcare settings, where discrimination undermines trust and access to life‑saving services. In addition, 85% of people living with HIV feel internalized stigma, and many change their behaviour— hiding their HIV status, or interrupting HIV treatment—because of fear of rejection and judgment. These findings confirm that HIV‑related stigma is not a side issue; it is a barrier to ending AIDS by 2030.
NUMBERS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
1 in 4 have faced discrimination when seeking non-HIV health care: Healthcare facilities—places meant to heal—become sources of fear and rejection.
24% have experienced community discrimination in the past year: Verbal harassment, and exclusion from family and community activities remain commonplace.
38% feel ashamed of being HIV-positive: Internal stigma keeps people isolated and prevents them from seeking the support they need.
85% experience some form of internalized stigma: From hiding their status to feeling worthless, the psychological burden is immense.
For women and girls living with and affected by HIV, gender inequalities intersect with HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Reproductive coercion, mistreatment and abuse is a persistent and widespread manifestation of stigma and discrimination that occurs along the continuum of healthcare services. A review of data collected from 26,502 women living with HIV from 23 countries, which recently completed the Stigma Index 2.0, revealed that in every single country, women living with HIV have reported experiencing some form of coercion within the last 12 months. Intersectional stigma and discrimination also impacts their experience of other services, as well as community and domestic life and their access to justice and redress. Additionally, HIV-related stigma and discrimination combine with gender norms and inequalities to place a heavy burden of unrecognized and unpaid care on women and girls.
Discrimination continues to:
Prevent people from testing for HIV
Stop people from seeking HIV prevention services including medicine to prevent HIV
Stop people from accessing treatment
Drive people away from health services
Deny people their fundamental human rights
Fuel the AIDS epidemic
EVENT: On March 1st; Zero Discrimination Day 2026, we celebrate the right of everyone to live a full and productive life with dignity. The UNAIDS calls on governments, health care providers, employers, communities and individuals to listen to the voices of people living with and affected by HIV and act on the evidence, so no one feels “less than” because of their HIV status; health systems become spaces where people can seek testing, treatment, and care without discrimination.
The UNAIDS invites everyone to:
Sustain the gains: Protect and scale what works: by safeguarding funding for HIV, human rights; institutionalizing stigma-free practices in health systems, education, and workplaces; reforming and repealing discriminatory laws and policies; and defending hard-won community leadership, legal protections, and U=U progress.
Stand with communities: Support, fund and partner with community‑led organizations that lead advocacy efforts and provide trusted, stigma‑free services.
Countries must examine their policies and laws and eliminate those that discriminate, criminalize and harm people living with and risk of HIV—including laws that criminalize sex work, drug use, same-sex relationships, and HIV non-disclosure—that stand in the way of accessing health services.
2. Protect rights to access health care
Ensure confidentiality
Ensure training for health workers and implement zero-tolerance policies for discrimination
End mandatory HIV testing
Provide quality, compassionate care for all
3. Address stigma in communitiesChallenge myths and misinformation about HIV
Promote U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable)
Support community education and awareness
Build empathy and understanding
4. Support community-led responsesFund organizations led by people living with HIV
Ensure meaningful participation in policy decisions
Strengthen peer support networks
Protect the rights of communities to lead HIV responses
Share the facts: Use social media, workplaces, and schools to spread messages that HIV is a health condition, not a moral failing, and that people living with HIV can live long, healthy, dignified lives.
FORUM: “Act to protect the first defense along the coasts.” World Seagrass Day 2025. Seagrass ecosystems are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities, climate change, and natural disasters, putting the marine life that depends on them at risk. In recent years, however, the global movement to conserve these vital ecosystems has gained significant momentum. Seagrasses have been declining globally since the 1930s, with the most recent census estimating that 7% of this key marine habitat is being lost worldwide per year. It was recently noted that 21% of seagrass species are categorized as Near Threatened, Vulnerable and Endangered Species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The combined pressures of coastal development, pollution, including land-based run-off, climate change, dredging and unregulated fishing and boating activities are key drivers of the degradation of seagrasses and their associated ecosystems. Seagrass improve water quality by filtering, cycling and storing nutrients and pollutants, reducing contamination in seafood. The benefits from conserving and restoring seagrass meadows can also help countries achieve 26 targets and indicators associated with ten Sustainable Development Goals. Given the carbon storage and sequestration capacity of seagrass ecosystems, including them in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) can help nations achieve their targets under the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Inclusion of seagrass ecosystems in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is also critical for protecting the integrity of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. The Restoration of seagrasses also provides countries with opportunities to achieve commitments to be made to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #BlueTransformation, #savingseagrass, #Seagrass, #worldSeagrassesDay, #1march.
FORUM: “Saving Seagrass.” World Seagrass Day 2024. Seagrasses have been declining globally since the 1930s, with the most recent census estimating that 7% of this key marine habitat is being lost worldwide per year. It was recently noted that 21% of seagrass species are categorized as Near Threatened, Vulnerable and Endangered Species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The combined pressures of coastal development, pollution, including land-based run-off, climate change, dredging and unregulated fishing and boating activities are key drivers of the degradation of seagrasses and their associated ecosystems. Seagrass improve water quality by filtering, cycling and storing nutrients and pollutants, reducing contamination in seafood.
The benefits from conserving and restoring seagrass meadows can also help countries achieve 26 targets and indicators associated with ten Sustainable Development Goals.
Inclusion of seagrass ecosystems in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is also critical for protecting the integrity of marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
PUBLICATION: Seagrasses are one of the most widespread coastal habitats on the planet. They provide a range of environmental, economic and social benefits to humans, making them one of the most valuable coastal and marine ecosystems on Earth, but they are under threat. The report, Out of the Blue: The Value of Seagrasses to the Environment and to People (UNEP), provides recommendations to help restore them.
FORUM: “To protect everyone’s health, protect everyone’s rights.” Zero Discrimination Day 2024. We can end AIDS – if everyone’s rights are protected. The world has made great progress towards the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. That progress has been powered by progress in protecting human rights. But laws, policies and practices that punish, discriminate against and stigmatize women and girls, key populations, and other marginalized communities violate human rights and obstruct access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care. Read press statement: On the 10th anniversary of Zero Discrimination Day UNAIDS calls for the protection of human rights as a path to protecting health for all; There is an urgent need to remove laws which harm people’s rights and to bring in laws which uphold the rights of every person. The path that ends AIDS is a rights path. The recent, well-coordinated and well-funded global push back against women’s rights, against the human rights of LGBTQ people, against sexual and reproductive health and rights, against democracy and against civic space is not only a threat to everyone’s freedom, it is a threat to everyone’s health. In response to this threat, the AIDS movement and allies are “pushing back against the push back, reminding world leaders of their commitments to uphold all human rights for all people. As communities across the world stand up for rights, the United Nations is not only on their side but by their side. We know the way that will allow all individuals to enjoy their human rights and reach their full potential in health, dignity and well-being. So, let’s make it happen! Let’s join forces for an unstoppable partnership. Join the Global Partnership today.Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #March1, #zerodiscriminationday, #Zerodiscrimination.
EVENTS: March 1st marks Zero Discrimination Day 2024 and the tenth anniversary of Zero Discrimination Day. Upholding everyone’s rights is the responsibility of us all. Everyone can play a part in ending discrimination. On 1 March, and across the whole month of March, events, activities and messages will remind the world of this vital lesson and call to action: to protect everyone’s health, protect everyone’s rights. The EU region and partner countries have addressed HIV-related rights violations, societal barriers, including laws and policies, stigma and discrimination that fuels the AIDS pandemic. To date, 29 countries, none of which are EU member states, have joined the Global Partnership on assisting countries in achieving the 10–10–10 targets by removing laws that harm and creating laws that empower.
On Zero Discrimination Day this year, under the theme “Save lives: Decriminalise”, UNAIDS is highlighting how the decriminalisation of key populations and people living with HIV saves lives and helps advance the end of the AIDS pandemic.
Criminal laws targeting key populations and people living with HIV violate people’s human rights, exacerbate the stigma people face and put people in danger by creating barriers to the support and services they need to protect their health.
In 2021, the world set ambitious law reform targets to remove criminal laws that are undermining the HIV response and leaving key populations behind. Recognising decriminalization as a critical element in the response, countries made a commitment that by 2025 less than 10% of countries would have punitive legal and policy environments that affect the HIV response.
Criminalisation drives discrimination and structural inequalities. It robs people of the prospect of healthy and fulfilling lives. And it holds back the end of AIDS.
Change starts with awareness. Take the interactive quiz to test your knowledge about the criminalization of HIV.
ABOUT DECRIMINALIZATION - With criminalization, it’s not because marginalized groups are at a higher risk of HIV that they are criminalized, rather it’s because they are criminalized that they are at a higher risk of HIV. It’s criminalization that increases vulnerability.
On Zero Discrimination Day, 1 March, we
celebrate the right of everyone to live a full and
productive life—and live it with dignity.
Zero Discrimination Day highlights how people
can become informed about and promote
tolerance, compassion, peace and, above all, a
movement for change. Zero Discrimination Day is
helping to create a global movement of solidarity
to end all forms of discrimination. Follow the conversation by using the hastags #ZeroDiscrimination
For Zero Discrimination Day 2022, UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need
to take action against discriminatory laws.
In many countries, laws result in people being treated differently, excluded
from essential services or being subject to undue restrictions on how they live
their lives, simply because of who they are, what they do or who they love. Such
laws are discriminatory—they deny human rights and fundamental freedoms.
People may experience more than one form of discrimination. A person may
experience discrimination because of his or her health status and because of his
or her race, gender identity or sexual orientation, compounding the effects on
the individual and the wider community.
Laws—such as laws on sex work, same-sex sexual relations, the use or
possession of drugs for personal use and the non-disclosure, exposure or
transmission of HIV—may discriminate by criminalizing conduct or identity.
Other laws may prevent people from accessing benefits or services. Girls may
not be allowed to go to school if they are pregnant or women may not be able
to access financial services without their husband’s permission. Laws may also
impose parental consent for adolescents to access health services or restrict the
entry, stay and residence of people living with HIV.
States have a moral and legal obligation—under the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, human rights treaties, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and other international obligations—to remove discriminatory laws and to enact laws that protect people from discrimination.
Some of the rights that people can use to contest discriminatory laws include the following:
• The right to equal treatment before the law.
• The right to an education.
• The right to economic opportunities.
• The right to privacy.
• The right to dignity.
• The right to health.
• The right to association.
• The right to a fair trial.
Everyone has a responsibility to hold states accountable, call for change and contribute to
efforts to remove discriminatory laws. The first steps to making a change are to know the
law, recognize that laws can discriminate and highlight discriminatory laws to others.
LAWS THAT CAN CONTAIN
DISCRIMINATORY PROVISIONS
Laws can affect people in different ways. It is not always obvious whether a law will contain
discriminatory provisions, and it is not always obvious from the name of the law. Examples of
laws that can contain discriminatory provisions include the following:
• Marriage and civil union laws.
• Parental consent laws that affect access
by young people to services.
• Workplace legislation.
• Laws that govern the education or
health sector.
• Laws that limit access to services and
that exclude certain people based on,
among other things, their gender
identity, race, nationality or
socioeconomic status.
• Banking and insurance laws.
• Migration and citizenship laws.
• Public order and security laws.
• Property laws.
• Inheritance laws.
• Laws that regulate sexual conduct.
• Laws that regulate access to
reproductive health services.
• Laws that punish people owing to their
health status, such as HIV or pregnancy.
• Laws that punish people who use drugs.
AIDS RESPONSE LAWS THAT
CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS.
In June 2020, Gabon reversed a law that made same-sex sexual relations
punishable with six months in prison and a large fine.
Bhutan decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in 2021.
In July 2020, Sudan repealed the death penalty for consensual same-sex sexual
relations.
The national laws of 79 countries do not criminalize non-intentional HIV
exposure/transmission and there are no reports of people being arrested or
prosecuted for HIV transmission in recent years.
Twenty-eight United Nations Member States recognize same-sex marriage.
Botswana's High Court ruled in favour of decriminalizing homosexuality in 2019.
TAKE ACTION
Five actions for individuals
1. Highlight discriminatory laws, so we can all
advocate for change—post your initiatives for zero
discrimination on social media.
2. Be an ally, call out discrimination when you see it.
3. Demand change from your parliamentarian,
ombudsperson or human rights organization.
4. Start a petition to change the law.
5. Donate time, money or expertise to an organization
that is working for law reform, or start one yourself.
Five actions for civil society
organizations
1. Start a campaign to change a law. Highlight
discriminatory laws, so we can collectively advocate
for change.
2. Provide support and a safe space, including legal
support and pastoral care for people who experience
discrimination.
3. Conduct awareness-raising sessions on human
rights in a workplace, school, clinic or peer network.
4. Convey a request to remove discriminatory laws to
your representative in parliament or local
government, United Nations office or national body
responsible for monitoring human rights in the
country.
5. Adopt and promote a policy that prevents and
protects against discrimination in the civil society
organization workplace.
Five actions for
parliamentarians and
governments
1. Inform yourself about discrimination and its impact
on the people affected.
2. Raise awareness among other public servants,
members of the judiciary and law enforcement
officers.
3. Facilitate platforms of parliamentarians, nationally
and internationally, to commit to promote good laws
that advance the well-being and fundamental dignity
of everyone, based on evidence and guided by
human rights standards.
4. Be an ally and act on civil society requests to remove
discriminatory laws and give civil society a platform so
that their voices can be heard.
5. Table amendments to laws or call for a review of the
legislation.
Five actions for partners and
donor organizations
1. Inform yourself about discrimination and its impact
on the people affected.
2. Adopt and promote a policy that prevents and
protects against discrimination in the donor
organization workplace.
3. Commit to prioritizing the reform of discriminatory
laws in health and development programmes.
4. Ensure that funding goes towards human rights,
law reform, legal aid and legal education.
5. Work with local organizations that are affected by
discriminatory laws or that are working on law reform.
FACTS ABOUT DISCRIMINATION
WOMEN
• More than 50 countries maintain nationality laws that discriminate on the
basis of sex.
• Twenty-five countries have nationality laws that deny women the right to confer
their nationality on their children on an equal basis with men.
• Only 10 countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia,
Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden) offer full legal protection to women.
• In 18 countries, husbands are legally allowed to prevent their wives from working.
• One hundred and four countries have laws that prevent women from working in
specific jobs.
• Countries that have explicitly sex discriminatory family laws include Iraq and
Nigeria, where domestic violence is explicitly allowed, and the Bahamas, India,
Singapore and Yemen, where marital rape remains legal.
• Laws that prevent daughters from inheriting the same proportion of assets as sons
exist in 39 countries.
PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS
• In 2020, 35 countries retained the death penalty for drug offences.
• In at least 67 countries, drug use or consumption and/or possession of drugs for
personal use is a criminal offence.
SEX WORKERS
• At least 98 countries criminalize some aspect of sex work.
• Selling and/or buying sex is partially or fully criminalized in at least 39 countries.
• At least five countries report that people can be prosecuted or punished for
carrying condoms.
SAME-SEX SEXUAL RELATIONS
• In six United Nations Member States—Brunei, the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Mauritania, 12 northern states of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen—the death
penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for consensual same-sex sexual
relations.
• In five additional United Nations Member States—Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar,
Somalia (including Somaliland) and the United Arab Emirates—certain sources
indicate that the death penalty could potentially be imposed for consensual
same-sex sexual relations, but there is less legal certainty on the matter.
• As of December 2020, 69 states criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
TRANSGENDER PEOPLE
• In 13 countries, specific laws criminalize transgender people, punishing them with
prison, corporal punishment and, where same-sex sexual relation laws are also
used against transgender people, even death.
• It’s not possible to legally change your gender in at least 47 United Nations
Member States.
PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV
• In 2020, 92 countries reported to UNAIDS they had either specific or general laws
that criminalize HIV transmission, exposure or non-disclosure.
• At least 20 countries worldwide still impose travel restrictions of some form against
people living with HIV.
• Across 19 countries with available data, approximately one in five people living
with HIV reported having been denied health care (including dental care, family
planning services and sexual and reproductive health services).
MANDATORY HIV TESTING
• In 2018, 59 countries reported maintaining mandatory HIV testing for marriage,
work or residence permits or for certain groups of people.
YOUNG PEOPLE
• Forty countries reported to UNAIDS in 2021 that they have laws requiring
parental/guardian consent for adolescents to access hormonal or long-lasting
contraceptives.
• One hundred and eight countries reported that parental/guardian consent is
required for an HIV test, 43 countries for HIV self-testing, 92 counties for HIV
treatment and 22 countries for access to pre-exposure prophylaxis.
• Some countries provide certain exceptions to parental/guardian consent based on
demonstrated maturity: 10 countries for hormonal or long-lasting contraceptives,
15 countries for HIV testing, eight countries for self-testing and nine countries for
HIV treatment.
• The age cut-off of parental consent laws varied by service. The majority of
countries that reported having requirements for parental/guardian consent had an
age cut-off of 18 years, with exceptions in a few countries, where adolescents as
young as 14 years could access a service without parental/guardian consent.
75 years ago, at a time of great distrust, world leaders chose the path to unity over division. Coming together in recognition that there is strength in diversity, they created a multilateral system underpinned by the fundamental principles of equality and non-discrimination. Yet today, discrimination continues to exist. Women continue to suffer from disproportionate burden of unpaid care, labour market segregation and gender pay gap. Girls are facing the grave risk of never returning to school in the middle of a gender digital divide. We are living in an era of deepening inequalities, with 235 million people expected to require humanitarian assistance this year. For those furthest behind, life has become even harder due to climate change, conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic. I call on all Member States to meaningfully engage with those most vulnerable people. We must ensure that pandemic response and recovery plans are grounded in rights-based approaches that meet the needs of those who are lagging behind. In a world where millions of people lack access to essential healthcare services and vulnerable groups continue to experience much poorer health outcomes, we must prioritize the equal and fair distribution of vaccines for all. On Zero Discrimination Day, I hope you will join me in re-committing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” We each have a responsibility to call out discrimination when we see it. To amplify the voices of those who have experienced discrimination, uphold the dignity of each individual, and to advocate and legislate for a more equal, just, and safer world for all. Thank you.
On #ZeroDiscrimination Day and every day we celebrate the right of everyone to live a full and productive life with dignity. Each of us can promote inclusion, compassion and peace—in a movement for change. Amina J Mohammed
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