The UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team launched the Caribbean Coalition for Social Justice (CCSJ) during the 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference, held in the Bahamas in November. The Barbados-based Coalition will pool resources and provide legal services for people in the region who have been victims of arbitrary acts of discrimination but do not have access to the courts.
The newly established Monitoring Centre for HIV and Prisons in Latin America and the Caribbean is set to become a key regional repository for collecting and analysing data on HIV in prison settings.
Representatives from government, civil society, people living with HIV, UN agencies and development partners from across the Caribbean met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to review progress towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.
Kay Forde has been a sex worker in Guyana for more than 20 years. She is an AIDS activist too. As secretary of the One Love Organization, a non-governmental organization addressing the HIV needs of sex workers, Ms Forde is committed to working with their clients, many of whom earn their living in the logging industry.
At the 10th annual general meeting of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), held in St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé joined former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Caribbean leaders to take stock of progress, challenges and lessons learned in the regional response to the HIV epidemic over the past decade.
As the World Twenty20 Tournament takes place in Barbados, cricketers are participating in a number of HIV awareness outreach and community activities through the ICC, UNAIDS, UNICEF partnership programme, Think Wise.
In conjunction with the International Cricket Council (ICC), West Indies cricketer Ramnaresh Sarwan was unveiled as a new Think Wise Champion on 26 April as part of a global cricket partnership to raise awareness of HIV.
Haitian civil society representatives visited Washington, D.C. on 6 April to mobilize political support for reconstructing the AIDS response in Haiti.
The civil society delegation, with support from UNAIDS, gave a testimony of their experiences with the earthquake and highlighted the importance of reconstructing the AIDS response with direct involvement of affected communities, especially people living with HIV.
On Wednesday 24th March 2010, Guyana unveiled the country’s new national principles, standards and guidelines for the prevention of HIV as part of its efforts to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
Although the Caribbean as a region has the second highest HIV prevalence after sub-Saharan Africa, most countries have concentrated epidemics which disproportionately affect certain groups including gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). In many countries men who have sex with men experience considerable social stigma and are not reached with vital HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. Not only are men afraid of disclosing their sexual activity, they are also deterred from finding out what they need to know to reduce their risk or to buy condoms.
The Sixth Central American Congress on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (CONCASIDA) will take place in San Jose, Costa Rica from 1-5 March 2010 with the theme "Youth: for my right to know and decide".
As Haiti begins to rebuild after the destruction left by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck 10 miles outside Port-au-Prince on 12 January, first reports are coming in on the impact the tremble has had on Haiti’s AIDS response.
As part of the United Nations family, UNAIDS stands in solidarity with the people affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.
A year ago Latin America and the Caribbean Ministers pledged to provide comprehensive sex education in schools. The historic Prevention through education declaration was signed at the end of the First Meeting of Ministers of Education and Health to prevent HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A UNICEF-supported programme called 'Kicking AIDS Out' (KAO) has recently been initiated in Speyside, northern Tobago, by the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance for Sport and Physical Education. The new programme uses sports and games to teach young people and adolescents about HIV.
UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé met on Wednesday 20th May with a delegation of the Caribbean community (CARICOM) at the 62nd World Health Assembly to discuss the Caribbean priorities for collaboration with UNAIDS.
The Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami and the Fogarty International Training Programme on AIDS and TB organized in collaboration with UNAIDS the ‘Health Research in the Americas V’ Conference on 7 and 8 May 2009, in Miami, Florida.
Barber shops across Georgetown, Guyana, are buzzing with chatter about the latest trends, community happenings, neighbourhood gossip and now, ways to protect young people from AIDS. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with UNAIDS Secretariat, has identified barber shops and beauty salons as information hubs, and is using them to spread the word about HIV prevention.
Violence against women is increasing women and girls’ vulnerability to HIV in the Caribbean region. This is the stark message which emerged from the launch of the Caribbean Coalition on Women, Girls and AIDS (CCWA) hosted on 4 March by the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team at the National Library, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.