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ILAB News Release: [10/15/2003]
Contact Name: Bob
Zachariasiewicz
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Labor Grant Will Provide HIV/AIDS Education
Chao Announces $2 Million Grant to Improve Working
Conditions for Ugandan Laborers suffering from HIV/AIDS
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has
announced a $2 million grant to fund a workplace education program in Uganda to
help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. The grantees, World Vision and RTI
International, will work to provide information about the disease while
improving the work environment for laborers with HIV/AIDS. This project is part
of the department’s HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program.
“Work sites are common meeting places which provide prime
opportunities for HIV/AIDS education for workers,” said Elaine L. Chao,
U.S. Secretary of Labor. “This $2 million grant program will provide
information that is essential to workers’ health and well-being and aid in
the overall effort to eliminate HIV/AIDS.”
Components of the HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program in Uganda will
include: prevention education in the workplace, development of workplace
policies to address the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and
capacity building activities for government, employers, and trade unions to
strengthen the response to the epidemic. World Vision will also work in
cooperation with local community/faith-based organizations to combat the spread
of HIV/AIDS by educating Ugandan teachers on effective methods to prevent the
disease. Another focus of the grants is the creation of a sustainable
partnership between U.S.-based and Ugandan community, grassroots, and
faith-based organizations working in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and
mitigation.
World Vision International, a faith-based organization, is currently
active in six continents. Through advocacy and intervention, the organization
continues to improve the quality of life for individuals all over the world.
RTI is a North Carolina based nonprofit organization that has helped countries
solve complex problems for over four decades.
The implementing partners will collaborate with the Labor
Department’s International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program to develop
innovative strategies to address HIV/AIDS through efforts to promote safer,
healthier, more productive work environments. These grants are funded through
the International Cooperation Program of the Department’s Bureau of
International Labor Affairs.
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