Uganda is a constitutional republic led since 1986 by President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. Voters reelected Museveni to a fourth five-year term in 2011. While the election marked an improvement over previous elections, it was marred by irregularities. Authorities usually maintained effective control over the state security forces (SSF). The SSF committed human rights abuses. The three most serious human rights problems in the country were a lack of respect for the integrity of the person (including unlawful killings, torture, and other abuse of...

Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular democracy and a presidential republic, the country has an authoritarian government controlled by the president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and the Democratic Party. Berdimuhamedov remained president following a February 2012 election that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights determined involved limited choice between competing political alternatives. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Security forces committed human...

Turkey is a constitutional republic with a multiparty parliamentary system and a president with limited powers. A unicameral parliament (the Grand National Assembly) exercises legislative authority. Following the 2011 parliamentary elections, which observers considered generally free and fair, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) formed a parliamentary majority under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces, but some elements of the security forces committed human rights abuses. The most significant human rights problems...

Almost two years after the Ouattara administration came into office, Cote d'Ivoire is moving toward stability and growth, putting behind it more than 10 years of civil unrest that divided the country, impoverished the population, decimated health and social services. President Alassane Ouattara's administration achieved a number of early successes in organizing national legislative elections, originating a new national development strategy, and reinvigorating the investment climate. The government's efforts to foster economic growth, increase foreign investment, and improve infrastructure are...

Central Asia is one of the few regions in the world where the HIV epidemic is still on the rise. While HIV incidence is declining globally, WHO estimated in 2011 that the number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in the Central Asia Region (CAR) increased 14-fold between 2000 and 2011 (WHO European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS for 2012-2015, 2011). HIV transmission in CAR is driven by people who inject drugs (PWID) located in urban centers and along drug transport corridors from Afghanistan through Tajikistan (TJ), Turkmenistan (TK), Uzbekistan (UZ) Kyrgyzstan (KG) and Kazakhstan (KZ). The United...

The Central America Region (CAR) is characterized by a concentrated HIV/AIDS epidemic with low prevalence among the general population, but high prevalence among certain subgroups such as men who have sex with men (MSM); transgender persons; male and female sex workers (SW); clients of sex workers and their partners; certain ethnic groups such as the Garifuna and Kuna; and mobile populations. According to UNAIDS in 2011, HIV prevalence in adults in CAR is highest in Belize (2.3%), followed by Panama (0.8%), Guatemala (0.8%), El Salvador (0.6%), Costa Rica (0.3%), and Nicaragua (0.2%). Data...

The Caribbean has higher HIV rates than any region outside of sub-Saharan Africa. The adult HIV prevalence of 1.0 percent is almost twice that of North America (0.6), and more than twice that of Latin America (0.4). Unprotected sex between men and women-especially paid sex-is believed to be the main mode of HIV transmission in this region; however, evidence indicates that substantial transmission is also occurring among men who have sex with men. In the eleven countries of the Caribbean Regional Program, data is limited and prevalence rates are missing for the general population and key...

Cameroon is a lower-middle income country with a population of 20 million representing over 275 ethnic groups. Cameroon's epidemiological profile is dominated by communicable diseases such as malaria and HIV (prevalence of 4.3%, DHS 2011); and an increased prevalence in non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Maternal mortality is estimated at 782 per 100,000 live births, while the under-five mortality rate is estimated at 122 per 1,000 live births. Funding for health is approximately 5% of the 2013 budget. In 2010, private spending (out of pocket) accounted...

Cambodia has established itself as a global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, cutting adult infection rates in the general population by more than half in the past 14 years and providing HIV treatment to over 80 percent of eligible individuals since services were established in 2003. The U.S. government (USG) contributed substantially to Cambodia's achievements, historically providing almost 40 percent of the financial resources behind the national response and establishing the surveillance, service delivery, and quality-assurance platforms needed for achievement of national goals as well...

Burundi is a low-income developing country with a population of 10.5 million (July 2012 CIA World Fact book), an annual population growth of 2.4 percent, and more than 300 inhabitants per km2. This makes Burundi the country with the second highest population density in sub-Saharan Africa. Burundi remains one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita gross national income (GNI) of $170, and it is considered one of the world's 40 "Heavily Indebted Poor Countries." Additionally, it is worth noting that a civil war, which lasted 13 years from 1993, killed more than 300,000 people,...