January 7, 2003
Business leaders grapple with HIV/AIDS in Republic of Congo In partnership with UNICONGO, the national business association, and under the patronage of First Lady Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, UNDP recently organized HIV/AIDS awareness workshops for such leaders in the country's two major cities -- Brazzaville, the capital, and Pointe Noire. Ms. Sassou called the workshops a major step in raising awareness about the disease and said that the workplace is "one of the ideal places for campaigning against HIV/AIDS."
More than 100 chief executives and heads of human resources and company medical services participated in the workshops. They discussed the impact of the epidemic on business, arrangements for people living with HIV/AIDS, human rights and ethical issues relating to HIV/AIDS in the workplace and practical steps for implementing HIV/AIDS programmes.
Participants urged parliamentarians to integrate HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention activities into plans and budgets in all sectors and to ensure protection of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by the disease. To follow up, UNDP is supporting a project on HIV/AIDS in the workplace, and focal points from participating companies will set up a network to support the initiative.
More than 7 per cent of adults ages 15 to 49 are living with the deadly disease, according to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, and more than 50,000 children have lost one or both parents to the epidemic. In Pointe Noire, the economic capital, the prevalence rate increased from 10 per cent in 1996 to 14 per cent in 2000. "Parliament has a role to play in the campaign against this scourge," said Jacques Bandelier, interim UNDP Resident Representative. As representatives of the people, parliamentarians should support and join in steps to promote HIV/AIDS information and awareness, he said, and they need to enact laws to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by the disease.
Parliamentarians adopted a declaration on 1 December, World AIDS Day, making a commitment to support a comprehensive campaign against the epidemic.
For further information please contact Guili Tsoumou, UNDP Republic of the Congo, or Nicholas Gouede, UNDP Communications Office.
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