Stakeholders speak...

"... For advocacy and awareness raising, the efforts of the project have really been laudable and the response observed at the level of the stakeholders and corporate houses was a reflection of this."
Mr. J.P. Singh, Special Secretary, MOL&E, during interview as part of project review in November 2006.

"... of all the USDOL projects in the country, I would rate this as the best run project in terms of management and impact."
Mr. Sukesh, Adviser (Political and Labour ), USAID India in November 2006.

"We do not do this work as a formality; we feel from inside that this is something that has to be done."
Medical Office, CCL, Jharkhand, as told to the Mid Term Assessment Team in November 2006.

"... It has now become part of our personal mission and we cannot but continue with the work."
A Peer Educator in BEST, Mumbai as told to the Mid Term Assessment Team in November 2006.

"... While the positive networks have received training from many sources, the ILO provided a different flavour to the training, a workplace flavour!! Eliminating workplace discrimination is very important to PLHIV."
President of INP+ in a interview as part of project review in Nov 06.

"... Had it not been for the ILO, it would have been impossible for the Unions to be working with NACO."
Nodel person at HMS during interview for the project review in Nov 06.

"... I have now been married for 30 years; it is only today that I learnt how to be working with NACO."
One of the trainer, Commenting on the high quality of training in a Master Trainer program.

"... HIV/AIDS is gradually emerging as a priority issue for the trade unions, and the ILO project has played a key role in this."
Mr. A.K. Dakshi, Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in the Trade Union Consultaton on 1 October 2004, New Delhi.

"... workers organizations are greatly concerned about the problem of HIVA/IDS and have been taking active interest in all activities concerning prevention of HIV/AIDS whether conducted by government, employers and even some NGOs."
Mr. R. A. Mittal, Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, in the Stakeholders' Meeting on 19 July 2001, New Delhi.

"... We the People living with HIV/AIDS are very important in the prevention of HIV. Our bodies are the battleground of the epidemic. Whether policies or laws are made affect us first and then the rest. So we should be equal partners in planning and implementation of AIDS programmes.  Here I would like to acknowledge the efforts made by ILO for including me as a representative of PLWHA in the Project Management Team of their project......"
Ms. Celina D'Costa, a person living with HIV/AIDS, representing PLWHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS) in the Stakeholders' Meeting on 19 July 2001, New Delhi.

"... I encourage you to take a keen interest in this programme. The company is very committed to this issue (HIV/AID), and we are happy to collaborate with the ILO."
Mr. D.R. Dhariwal, CEO and MD, Birla NGK Insulators, Kolkata addressing the perr educators training at their premises on 30 July 2004.

"If you take away our jobs, you will kill us faster than the virus. We have great expectations from the world of work. If we are not sacked from jobs due to our HIV status, this ensures us a regular income and keeps us going. ".... now you can imagine what you could do for us by keeping us in employment till we can work. This is my appeal to the government officials, employers and trade unions present in this meeting today."
Naveen Kumar, a Person Living with HIV/AIDS, addressing the constituents of ILO at the Stakeholders' Meeting in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on 29 March 2003.

"... To my mind, the report (ILO's study on Socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on People Living with HIV/AIDS & their families) gives us one message very clearly and that is, HIV/AIDS is a real threat, it has started showing adverse effects in India. We shall make mistake if we don't take these finding seriously and strengthen our response to HIV/AIDS. As Chairman of the ILO - AIDS Project Management Team, I am particularly impressed by the fact that People Living with HIV/AIDS are involved at every stage. They are represented in the Project Management Team as well as all training and advocacy efforts. Their involvement can be extremely useful in prevention as well care programmes."
Shri Baleshwar Rai, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment at the release function of ILO's study on Socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on People Living with HIV/AIDS & their families, on 14 October 2003, New Delhi.

".........in this study (ILO study on Socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on People Living with HIV/AIDS & their families), we have for the first time an articulation of the needs of the People Living with HIV/AIDS.....We are happy that this study has come out from the positive people networks. When we talk of involvement of positive people, it is necessary but the question is, who will build capacity? The ILO has been doing it"
Dr. Sadhana Rout, Joint Director, IEC, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) at the release function of ILO's study on Socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on People Living with HIV/AIDS & their families, on 14 October 2003, New Delhi.

"........ The ILO Project has been developed following a series of consultations. NACO is looking foward to the project and hopes that the project will be able to contribute towards enhancing the workplace response to HIV/AIDS in India."
Mr. J.V.R. Prasada Rao, Project Director, NACO during the launch of the ILO India project on 19 July 2001.