Strengthening Leadership for Mainstreaming and Scaling up of the Response to HIV/AIDS in the World of Work

Donors/funding mechanisms

Project Accelerations Funds (PAF)

The overall purpose of UNAIDS Programme Acceleration Funds (PAF) is to enable UN organizations to make a strategic contribution to an effective and efficient scaled-up national response. PAF are to be programmed jointly by UN Theme Groups on HIV/AIDS. They are meant to catalyse and leverage new resources and partnerships, involve two or more UN agencies, generate innovative approaches, and generally strengthen national programme planning and development, and monitoring and evaluation efforts. Compared to the resources made available through other funding mechanisms, PAF monies are relatively small. However, these small amounts can maximize the comparative advantages of the UN, and ensure that its contribution can be critical to an effective response.

Bangladesh

Objectives: The main objective of the project is to increase the capacity of management and leaders of industry and labour market to take positive action against HIV/AIDS in the world of work through mainstreaming and up-scaling of the response as well as to contribute to the development of a national framework for the HIV/AIDS response in the world of work.

Background: The Government of Bangladesh as well as employers’ and workers’ representatives agree that against the low HIV prevalence in the country, it is important to roll out prevention programmes and reduce HIV related stigma and discrimination in the workplace. A National AIDS Policy was developed in 1997, and the National AIDS Programme is now very keen on developing a policy to guide a strategic response in the world of work as postulated under objective V of the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS 2005-2010.

Summary paragraph: Building previous activities that included the translation of the ILO Code of Practice into Bangla as well as training for tripartite constituents, this project aims at creating a policy framework conducive to a strategic response to HIV/AIDS in the world of work, as well as at building the capacity of tripartite constituents to respond to the epidemic in a concerted way.