Tomorrow and Thursday IOM will host consultations in Lilongwe, Malawi on HIV dynamics and responses in the commercial agriculture, transport and informal cross border trade sectors - all of which are characterized by mobility and migration.
The consultations, which are co-hosted by the Government of Malawi, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the UN World Food Programme, will bring together stakeholders from the Malawi government, commercial agriculture, road transport, informal cross border trade and civil society, as well as international organisations operating in Malawi.
The gathering will provide a forum for stakeholders working with HIV to share best practices and aims to facilitate improved coordination and cooperation in the southern African nation, where some 14% of the adult population is HIV positive.
“Malawi is a big exporter of labour in the region and is also seeing increased levels of internal migration, as people move within the country to look for work or to trade goods. We need a coordinated approach on HIV response among mobile and migrant workers and this meeting will offer a platform for discussion,” says Julia Hill-Mlati, regional project manager for IOM’s Partnership on HIV and Mobility in Southern Africa (PHAMSA).
The consultations are part of PHAMSA, a regional programme implemented by IOM’s Regional Office for Southern Africa, which aims to reduce the HIV incidence and impact of AIDS among migrant and mobile workers and their families.
Active since 2004, PHAMSA targets sectors that are characterised by high levels of population mobility, including the construction, transport, commercial agriculture, fisheries and mining sectors, as well as cross-border sites. PHAMSA is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA.)
Tuesday 16 September 2008
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