Tomorrow and Thursday, IOM will host consultations in Lilongwe,
Malawi on HIV dynamics and responses in the commercial agriculture,
transport and informal cross border trade sectors - all of which
are characterized by mobility and migration.

The consultations, which are co-hosted by the Government of
Malawi, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation and the UN World Food Programme, will
bring together stakeholders from the Malawi government, commercial
agriculture, road transport, informal cross border trade and civil
society, as well as international organisations operating in
Malawi.

The gathering will provide a forum for stakeholders working with
HIV to share best practices and aims to facilitate improved
coordination and cooperation in the southern African nation, where
some 14% of the adult population is HIV positive.

"Malawi is a big exporter of labour in the region and is also
seeing increased levels of internal migration, as people move
within the country to look for work or to trade goods. We need a
coordinated approach on HIV response among mobile and migrant
workers and this meeting will offer a platform for discussion,"
says Julia Hill-Mlati, regional project manager for IOM's
Partnership on HIV and Mobility in Southern Africa (PHAMSA).

The consultations are part of PHAMSA, a regional programme
implemented by IOM's Regional Office for Southern Africa, which
aims to reduce the HIV incidence and impact of AIDS among migrant
and mobile workers and their families.

Active since 2004, PHAMSA targets sectors that are characterised
by high levels of population mobility, including the construction,
transport, commercial agriculture, fisheries and mining sectors, as
well as cross-border sites. PHAMSA is funded by the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA.)

For more information please contact:

Nosipho Theyise

IOM Pretoria

Tel: +27 (0) 12 342 2789

E-mail: "mailto:ntheyise@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">ntheyise@iom.int