ECATT and HASC sign Memorandum of Understanding
Implementation of the National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS in all workspaces throughout Trinidad and Tobago on the agenda
The National HIV/AIDS Workplace Advocacy and Sustainability Centre (HASC), which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development of Trinidad and Tobago, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Employers’ Consultative Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ECATT) on 29 January, 2016.
The MoU, signed by Ms. Joycelyn Francois Opadeyi of the ECATT and the Deputy Permanent Secretary Mr. Dalkeith Ali on behalf of the Ministry, indicated the Government’s commitment to implement the National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS in all workspaces throughout Trinidad and Tobago. It also signalled ECATT’s intention and readiness to develop and implement HIV and AIDS workplace policies. It is expected that the collaborative effort will bring about the development and implementation of programmes to break-down and eradicate the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.
The HASC reaffirmed its undertaking to work closely with the Ministry and ECATT to provide the relevant training and guidance necessary to facilitate the adoption of an HIV and AIDS workplace policy within one year as well as to create an enterprise-level HIV and AIDS committee.
The ILO has provided comments to, and engaged in, the consultations for the Revised National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS. ILO Recommendation 200 has been the basis on which the ILO made its contributions. It is the ILO’s aim to strengthen the national institutions to reach out to both the formal and informal economies, including migrant populations. The strategies to do this is being defined together with the national stakeholders, e.g. through the HASC and its Advisory Board.
The MoU, signed by Ms. Joycelyn Francois Opadeyi of the ECATT and the Deputy Permanent Secretary Mr. Dalkeith Ali on behalf of the Ministry, indicated the Government’s commitment to implement the National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS in all workspaces throughout Trinidad and Tobago. It also signalled ECATT’s intention and readiness to develop and implement HIV and AIDS workplace policies. It is expected that the collaborative effort will bring about the development and implementation of programmes to break-down and eradicate the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.
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| Ms Joycelyn Francois Opadeyi, ECATT; Ms Dagmar Walter, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean; and Mr Dalkeith Ali, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise Development, at the signing of the MoU |
The HASC reaffirmed its undertaking to work closely with the Ministry and ECATT to provide the relevant training and guidance necessary to facilitate the adoption of an HIV and AIDS workplace policy within one year as well as to create an enterprise-level HIV and AIDS committee.
The ILO has provided comments to, and engaged in, the consultations for the Revised National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS. ILO Recommendation 200 has been the basis on which the ILO made its contributions. It is the ILO’s aim to strengthen the national institutions to reach out to both the formal and informal economies, including migrant populations. The strategies to do this is being defined together with the national stakeholders, e.g. through the HASC and its Advisory Board.