GENEVA (ILO News) ─ Experts from the International Labour Organization (ILO) will address the potential impact of the global economic crisis on HIV/AIDS in the workplace during a series of events to be held at the 15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), which opens tomorrow (3 December) in Dakar, Senegal.
ILO officials said that recent events may bring a new dimension and urgency to global endeavours to tackle the epidemic.
“The economic crisis has a number of implications for those who have already contracted the virus and for those in a vulnerable position”, explains Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work.
“The loss of a job in an AIDS-affected household may lead to children being taken out of school and put to work. It also often means the end of HIV treatment for workers receiving treatment through their workplace or needing income to cover their costs”, she adds.
Increasing precariousness of employment may also result in coping strategies that increase exposure to the risk of HIV.
The ILO’s Programme on HIV/AIDS in the World of Work (ILO/AIDS) will use the Conference as a global platform to discuss these issues and present its work in the formal and informal economy in Africa. The ILO delegation to ICASA will be lead by Mr. Assane Diop, ILO Executive Director for Social Protection, previously Minister of Labour and Health in Senegal.
On the opening day, the ILO will co-host – with UNAIDS – a satellite session on the role of the private sector in supporting a comprehensive response at the national level. While the private sector response to the HIV epidemic continues to grow in scale and scope, it remains a challenge to reach small enterprises and the informal economy, where most women and men work. The session will take place on Wednesday 3 December at 13:00.
Delegates will be invited to learn about the process of preparing a new international labour standard on HIV/AIDS at a special satellite session on Thursday December 4 at 12:30. The new standard would complement and reinforce the ILO’s existing Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, adopted in 2001. It would further support joint action on HIV/AIDS by governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other partners to strengthen the workplace contribution to achieving Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
Considering the vital role of public institutions – as society’s main service providers – in stemming the HIV/AIDS epidemic and mitigating its impact, the ILO is joining GTZ to hold a satellite session on the impact of HIV/AIDS and the response in the public sector. Panellists will analyse key factors that can bring about successful workplace programme implementation in public institutions.
The ILO will organize a series of satellite and skills-building sessions on a range of other issues including the migration of health care workers, behaviour change communication in workplace settings, and the impact of workplace programmes on knowledge, attitudes and practices in Senegal and Guinea. Activities will also be organized with other UNAIDS co-sponsors including a session with UNESCO on the development of workplace polices in the education sector and a session with WHO on post-exposure prophylaxis.
A highlight will be the ‘Workplace Leaders Pledge Centre’, where delegates will be asked to join their voices with those of African leaders and commit themselves to implement specific initiatives to address HIV/AIDS in their own workplace. Each participant making a pledge will receive a gift as a reminder of his or her commitment. This takes place at the ILO stand located in the exhibition area with other UN agencies. All conference delegates who make the pledge will be invited to join her Excellency Innocence Ndiaye Tap the Minister of Civil Services, Labour, Employment and Professional Organizations of Senegal to receive a workplace leaders’ t-shirt and participate in a group photo on Thursday December 4 at 14h15 in front of the ‘Village communautaire’.
“The ILO is taking action to help meet the Millennium Development Goals to combat HIV/AIDS, halt its spread and achieve universal access in Africa”, says Mr. Francois Murangira, Director of the ILO Subregional Office for West Africa and the Sahel Region. “We hope many ICASA delegates will attend the ILO events in order to stimulate discussion, share experiences and commit to solutions for the way forward”, he concluded.
More information:
For press enquiries during ICASA 2008, please contact Josée Laporte on +221/77-182-42-39 or Djibril Ndiaye on +221/77-182-42-40.
Alternatively you can contact Adam Bowers in Geneva on +4122/799-6126.