What have Rights got to do with it? Evaluating 'Human Rights' as a practice within the Global Fund

Abstract

In this article, we want to understand the relationship between states and global health financing organizations and how they seek to advance human rights in their grant programs. We therefore ask: to what extent can global financing institutions shape human rights practices at the domestic level? The article uses the case study of the GFATM?s experience of adopting human rights as an institutional norm and analyzes the implications for the institution?s new role as a human rights actor within states. In particular, we argue that the institutional design of the institution impacts on the ability of the GFATM to substantively enhance human rights agendas within local health governance contexts.