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Firm-Funded Human Rights Internship

Research Intern: Diana Juricevic, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Supervisors:James Orbinski, MD, Associate Professor, St.MichaelsHospital, University of Toronto

Dominique Njinkeu, Executive Director, International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP)

Sponsor:Stikeman Elliott LLP

The International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law offers approximately 20-30 students the opportunity to spend all or part of their summer working with nongovernmental, governmental and United Nations organizations on international human rights issues. The goal of the internship program is to train and develop the capacity of students in the promotion and protection of international human rights through advocacy, activism, research, and education. At the same time, the IHRP internships allow students to gain practical experience to undertake independent research or experience human rights concerns that are of interest to them.

This past summer, Stikeman Elliott sponsored Diana Juricevic to undertake an internship with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for part of the summer. Diana conducted policy work for the Initiative on Pharmaceutical Technology Transfer. Diana researched under the supervision of Dr. James Orbinski, an Associate Professor at St.MichaelsHospital, University of Toronto. Dr. Orbinski is past president of Medecins Sans Frontieres International and is internationally renowned for his activism and leadership within the organization. In recognition of his leadership, Dr. Orbinski accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on MSF’s behalf in 1999.

The Initiative on Pharmaceutical Technology Transfer (IPTT) is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to transfer pharmaceutical manufacturing technology for anti HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria medications to twelve existing private sector manufacturing sites in Africa, on condition of guaranteed supply of affordable pharmaceutical products (with a maximum 5% profit margin) to the public sector. Training, technology transfer, and production monitoring will take place in South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Senegal. Increased availability of affordable medicines for these diseases will contribute to the treatment, management, and containment of these epidemics.

A Working Group of finance and pharmaceutical manufacturing experts has completed the formal project proposal for the IPTT, and is in the process of developing specific business plans for each of the target manufacturing sites. Evidence-based monitoring and evaluation will be an integral part of the 5-year initiative.

The IPTT already has significant practical and political support from the South African, Ethiopian, and Ugandan Governments. Additional support is provided by the NEPAD secretariat and the Secretary General of the Economic Commission for Africa. Immediate start-up funds required are 1 million US dollars. The full budget over five years is estimated at between 17 and 35 million US Dollars, depending on the number of manufacturing sites and upgrading that is required.

To facilitate progress on the IPTT initiative, a legal strategy that allows for capacity building and technology transfer in the pharmaceutical sector is required. The purpose of Diana’s internship was to begin developing a legal strategy for the IPTT. To this end, Diana researched the significance of preambles and declarations in the interpretation of international agreements, and in particular, the significance of the Doha Declaration in the interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement. Diana also investigated the political and legal controversy surrounding the impasse over paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration and reviewed the obligations for capacity building and technology transfer under the TRIPS Agreement.