AIDS, security and governance in Southern Africa: Exploring the impact

This paper sets out to examine some potential impacts on security and governance in Southern Africa—the region where global HIV-prevalence is highes

By undermining health and the development of human capital, it is widely acknowledged that HIV/AIDS will increasingly undermine the foundations of human and economic development, although the details of this impact are as yet poorly understood. What is known is that individuals in the prime of their lives—the parents and workers of society—are at greatest risk of being infected with the HI-virus.

AIDS related illness and death often stand at the centre of a complex web of interrelated knock-on effects with implications for the well-being of individuals, households, economies and states. Two decades after AIDS became recognised globally, such consequences are only now beginning to be felt and appreciated, and their precise nature has yet to be determined. The scale of expected illness and death, however, suggests that they will be felt not only in the generations immediately affected but also by those to come.

This paper sets out to examine some of these potential impacts on security and governance in Southern Africa—the region where global HIV-prevalence is highest. To this end, the paper considers the thinking behind HIV/AIDS as a security issue and problematises the nature of the epidemic in the region. It then pulls together existing thinking to consider in detail the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on security and governance in the region.  

About the authors

Robyn Pharoah is a senior researcher for the AIDS and Security Project at the Institute for Security Studies, with a background in applied health and HIV/AIDS related research.

Martin Schönteich heads the AIDS and Security Project at the Institute for Security Studies. He has undertaken extensive research in the criminal justice field, and worked as a prosecutor for the Department of Justice in South Africa. He holds a postgraduate degree in political science from the University of South Africa.