BALI (ILO News): The International Labour Organization (ILO) is to host a series of events at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which opens this Sunday, 9 August, in Bali, Indonesia.

A Symposium on the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Safe Migration and HIV

Wednesday 12 August, 16.00 – 17.30, Nusa Indah Hall, BICC Westin Hotel, Bali.

The impact of the economic crisis continues to reverberate worldwide, with serious repercussions for the most vulnerable, including migrants. This symposium examines the link between the crisis, migration and HIV. It is hosted by ILO, UNDP, UNAIDS and UNIMA and chaired by Dr. I. Gusti Made Arke from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration. The session will feature experts and practitioners exchanging ideas and sharing recommendations on how best to ensure that migrants have adequate access to health care and HIV services, despite the economic downturn.

A Satellite Session on Reaching Clients of Sex Workers through Workplace Interventions

Wednesday, 12 August, 12.30 – 14.00, Room 8 (Orchid), BICC Westin Hotel, Bali

Chaired by the Director of the ILO Office for Indonesia and Timor Leste, Mr. Alan Boulton, this session explores how HIV workplace programming can effectively reach clients of sex workers, thereby contributing significantly to MARP prevention goals in concentrated epidemics. Featuring interventions from the International Transport Workers' Federation and the Asian Development Bank, as well as ILO experts from India and China, the satellite will review best practices, and share results of research carried out to identify the most vulnerable economic sectors to be targeted for HIV workplace interventions.

• Mr. Alan Boulton, Director of the ILO Office for Indonesia and Timor Leste, will speak at an IOM Symposium on ‘HIV and Mobile Workers: Towards Public-Private Partnership in Maritime and Transport Sectors’, to be held on Monday 10 August, 17.45 – 19.15 , at Room 6 – Frangipani, BICC Westin Hotel, Bali.

Mr. Boulton will also be speaking at the ASEAN Symposium on ‘Public-Private Partnership in Tackling HIV/AIDS in the ASEAN region’, on Wednesday 12 August, 10.45 – 12.15, at Nusa Indah Hall, BICC Westin Hotel, Bali.

Three skills-building sessions will be conducted by the ILO:

• ‘Behaviour change communication in the workplace’, Tuesday 11 August,10.45 – 12.15 (Surabaya Room)
• ‘You want to stop HIV discrimination in employment? Let's write an HIV/AIDS workplace policy together’, Wednesday 12 August, 10.45 – 12.15 (Surabaya Room)
• ‘Engaging people living with HIV in the workplace for advocacy’, Wednesday,12 August, 14.15 – 15.45 (Surabaya Room)

‘Migrant Workers: Safe Away from Home’ - special abstract session on Monday 10 August, 10.45 – 12.15 (Room 3, Jakarta B)

The joint ILO/IOM publication “Migrant workers and mandatory HIV testing in eight countries of South-East Asia” will be launched during this session. This new publication reviews human rights policies and practices in South-East Asia related to HIV testing and migration.

The panel includes:

Mr. Manjunath Kini (ILO New Delhi): “A trade union model: A rights-based approach to address the HIV/AIDS vulnerability of migrant workers in the construction sector”

Mr. Eric Stener Carlson (ILO Bangkok): “Migrant workers and mandatory HIV testing in South-East Asia: from discrimination to social dialogue”

‘Turning Adversaries into Allies: Working with Uniformed Personnel on HIV/AIDS’ – special abstract session on Wednesday, 12 August, 14.15 – 15.45 (Room 8, Orchid)

Surkafa Katafono (ILO Suva): “Building empathy between police and MARPs: HIV/AIDS workplace policies are the key”

Delegates and journalists are invited to meet ILO officials at the UNAIDS Booth in the Exhibition Hall (stands 45-46 and 59-60). ILO experts will advise on the development of HIV/AIDS policies and programmes on Monday 10 August, 14:00 -15:00.

A special event entitled “How to reach migrant workers with effective tailored programmes?” will be organized on 11 August, 14:00 – 15:00. This will include a presentation of the ILO film “Never Abandon, Never Give up” produced for migrant workers in China.

Please note that interviews can be arranged with Mr. Alan Boulton, ILO Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Ms. Loretta Hieber-Girardet, Technical Cooperation Manager, ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, and other ILO officials. For further details, please contact Gita Lingga on +62815 884 5833 or Josée Laporte on +62813 8400 6520.

For more information, during ICAAP 2009 in Bali, contact:

Gita Lingga, Communications Officer, +62815 884 5833
Josée Laporte, ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, +62813 8400 6520
Sophy Fisher, Regional Communications Officer, ILO Bangkok, +66 (0) 8989 50912
Adam Bowers, Communications Officer,ILO Geneva, +41 22 799 6126