A joint initiative by IOM and the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) is aiming to reduce the HIV vulnerability of
farm workers by providing HIV and AIDS prevention and care
services.

The programme, funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is targeting 20,000 seasonal, temporary and
permanent farm workers, including documented and undocumented
migrants, in the country's northern provinces of Limpopo and
Mpumalanga.

Entitled Ripfumelo or "Believe" in xiTsonga, the three-year USD
5.1 million programme is a direct outcome of an IOM study which
found high levels of unsafe sexual behaviour among farm workers in
South Africa such as extremely low condom use set against high
levels of multiple sexual partners. Such behaviour has led to a
serious epidemic among the farming communities studied in the
report which aimed to have a better understanding of HIV
vulnerabilities within the commercial agriculture sector in South
Africa.

The programme will work to increase the technical capacities of
partners on the ground in order to make HIV and AIDS prevention and
care services sustainable in the long run.

"HIV and AIDS prevention efforts often focus purely on medical
issues and fail to consider interrelated factors that affect
people's vulnerability to the disease.  It is for that reason
that the Ripfumelo project addresses the contextual issues such as
workplace policies, improving life skills, financial literacy and
promoting healthy recreational activities," says Julia Hill-Mlati,
manager of IOM's Partnership on HIV and Mobility in Southern Africa
(PHAMSA).

USAID's Southern Africa Director, Dr. Carleene Dei adds: "One
prevention programme doesn't fit all people's needs.  Farm
workers face higher risks of getting and spreading HIV than many
other groups.  Our prevention efforts tackle their
vulnerabilities, including alcohol abuse, that arise from many
factors related to poverty and the transitional lifestyle of
migrant workers."

For more information, please contact:

Dabea Gaboutloeloe

IOM Pretoria

Tel: +27 12 342 27 89

E-mail:  "mailto:dgaboutloeloe@iom.int">dgaboutloeloe@iom.int