GENEVA (ILO News) - A wide variety of events are planned in the world of work on 1 December to mark World AIDS Day 2006, ranging from workplace events to forming of "human AIDS ribbons" as a way of saying "let's stand up and be counted," according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Focal points and project coordinators working with the ILO's Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work will be concentrating their efforts for World AIDS Day in two main areas -supporting joint UN events at country level, with the close involvement of civil society, including fairs, marches, street theatre, film shows and religious services, and helping employees and workers put on activities in their enterprises.
In Kampala, Uganda, for example, a joint employer-trade union training workshop on HIV/AIDS will provide practical follow-up in eight African countries to the Joint Declaration of Commitment to collaborate on HIV/AIDS, signed by the IOE and ICFTU in 2003. Meanwhile, in Beirut, Lebanon, a one-day workshop is to be held for trade unions, while in Ethiopia the UN Core Team has established a taskforce led by the ILO to organize a Town Hall Meeting to brief all UN staff on the latest developments about HIV/AIDS. In Benin, the ILO has been asked to provide HIV orientation sessions for staff of the national television network, the Ministry of Education, and the medical officers of a range of enterprises including foreign embassies.
New global estimates of the impact of HIV on the world of work
In Geneva, the ILO will launch a new study, HIV/AIDS and work: global estimates, impact on children and youth, and response 2006. This new report presents updated estimates of the impact of the HIV epidemic on the world of work, the labour force and the working-age population in 60 countries in all regions. It also gives particular attention to the effects of the epidemic on employment growth, the persistence of child labour, the sexual exploitation of children and youth, and the need for youth to have access to decent work. In complement, the report examines a range of rights-based responses. For the first time, projections of mortality losses and the effects of illness on the labour force and the working-age population take account of increased future access to antiretroviral treatment, and show the benefits for the world of work.
The report will be launched on Thursday, 30 November and will be available to the media by contacting Hans von Rohland on +41(0)22/799-7916 rohland@ilo.org or Laetitia Dard on +41(0)22/799-8272 dard@ilo.org
First International HIV/AIDS Cartoon Exhibition
Beginning on Monday, 27 November, the first International HIV/AIDS Cartoon Exhibition will open at the ILO offices in Geneva. On the initiative of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, who held a competition for artists from all over the world, the exhibition has been shown in South America and the United States but never before in Europe. The World AIDS Day exhibition at the ILO coincides with a showing at UN headquarters in New York. The exhibition is co-organized with UNAIDS and the International Planned Parenthood Federation and is open to the public. It will be opened by Ms Eliane Pereira dos Santos of the Brazilian Ministry of Health and Mr. Assane Diop, ILO Executive Director, Social Protection Sector.
Global reach: how trade unions and employers are responding to AIDS
A new UNAIDS Best Practice Collection report on trade unions responding to AIDS will also be available. The report brings to public attention the "innovative programmes and successful initiatives" of the labour movement in responding to HIV/AIDS. The report is a joint publication by the ILO, ICFTU (now the ITUC), Global Union AIDS Programme and UNAIDS. The case studies show union action in all regions and in all spheres of activity, from collective bargaining to couples' training, from providing treatment to campaigns against stigma and discrimination. The report is available in English, with French, Spanish and Russian to follow in early 2007.
A new CD-ROM for employers' organizations providing information, tools and good practices for workplace action is designed to help employers' organizations and their members find their way through the maze of information on HIV/AIDS, manage its impact, and strengthen the business response to the epidemic. It is a compilation of factual information, policy and technical advice, training materials and case studies, with guidance on how to apply them in workplaces, both large and small. English, French and Spanish versions are contained in the same CD.
For further information see the ILO/AIDS Programme website, www.ilo.org/aids, or contact iloaids@ilo.org.