CHAMPION, a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has launched an HIV awareness and prevention program for energy projects under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) through Millennium Challenge Account in Tanzania (MCA-T).
Speaking during the launch in Mwanza recently, CHAMPION’s Program Officer for Work place Initiatives, Dr. Andrew William said the program will oversee HIV and AIDS programming in the workplace and surrounding communities for MCC/MCA-T-supported transport, energy, and water projects across nine regions.
Projects to be covered by this program are in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Mwanza, Dodoma, Iringa, Mbeya, Tanga, Zanzibar, and Coast regions.
“The goal of the workplace programs is to prevent HIV and help mitigate the potential health threats created by construction and infrastructure activities in the country”, stated Dr. William.
He further added that robust and gender-transformative HIV and AIDS programs will be made possible through the collaboration and support of the MCA-T construction and engineering companies.
“To ensure this program is a success, we are highly determined to facilitate access to sexual and reproductive health services, including HIV counseling and testing and linking HIV-positive workers to services that enable them to stay healthy and continue working”, he said.
This workplace programs will target managers and laborers, both skilled and unskilled, who work on the construction and infrastructure projects.
Local leaders and members of the surrounding communities will be the secondary target audience. Within the communities special attention will be given to young women, out of school youth and migrant labourers, who are likely to be at a higher risk for HIV.
Addressing participants during the program launch, Mwanza Regional Administrative Secretary, Doroth Mwanyika, commended EngenderHealth’s efforts, through its CHAMPION project, for its outstanding HIV and AIDS programs at work places.
“We call upon other non-governmental organizations to make deliberate efforts on developing and thoroughly implementing AIDS policy and programs that are specifically focusing at work places”, she added.
Prior to the launch, CHAMPION held a series of consultative meetings with government officials, MCA-T officials, MCA-T contractor and other stakeholders to ensure an integrated and collaborative approach for HIV and AIDS program in the MCA-T projects.
This included conducting community assessments and mapping the energy project sites and surrounding communities in Mwanza and Kagera regions.
The findings of these activities has guided and informed the development of a gender-focused workplace HIV and AIDS strategy that will be responsive to worker and community needs and ensure interventions are appropriate to the local context.
As part of its strategy to preventing HIV and mitigate the potential impacts of construction and infrastructure activities, CHAMPION will offer training to a team of workplace and community members, including peer educators, coordinators, for them to facilitate educational and outreach activities across the identified project sites and surrounding communities.
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