Whilst migrants and mobile populations are often identified as
"key" for HIV prevention, "vulnerable" or even "most-at-risk", IOM
firmly believes that migration is not necessarily equal to HIV
vulnerability, and not all migrants are at increased risk to HIV
due to their mobility.

This clear message, based on IOM's decade of global experience
in HIV prevention and response among migrants, will be relayed
during the week long XVIII International AIDS Conference ( "paragraph-link-no-underline-bold" href="http://www.aids2010.org/"
target="_blank" title="">http://www.aids2010.org/), which opens
this Sunday in Vienna.

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Link alt="" border="0" height="12" hspace="0" src=
"/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/graphics/interface/icons_buttons/blue_link_box.gif"> "http://www.aids2010.org/" target="_blank" title="">XVIII
International AIDS Conference Website

IOM, which will be organizing several events throughout the
conference, will focus on "spaces of vulnerability" where mobile
populations interact with sedentary populations in environments
conducive to higher HIV risk.

"IOM works in spaces where migrants interact with local
communities in environments which create HIV vulnerability and
risk," explains Rosilyne Borland, IOM's HIV Coordinator. "These
sexual networks stretch across regions and countries and connect
low and high prevalence epidemics, different levels of sexual
education, and one vulnerable space to another."

A key highlight of IOM's presence at AIDS 2010 will be a working
session titled "Spaces of Vulnerability: Beyond Stigmatizing
Migrants", which will take place on Tuesday, July 20 from 7:00-8:30
AM in Conference Room 7.  

At the session, delegates will attend presentations from and
participate in discussions with several IOM field missions as well
as key partners such as the South African Development Community
(SADC), the NGO Caritas Internationalis, the International
Transport Workers' Federation, Actions for Health Initiatives
(ACHIEVE), the Joint United Nations Initiative on Mobility and
HIV/AIDS in South East Asia (JUNIMA) and the Chulalongkorn
University of Thailand. The session will be chaired by the European
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

This session aims to enable policy-makers and practitioners to
identify targeted interventions for those migrants who do face
increased HIV risk.  Research findings and lessons learnt from
HIV programming for migrants and mobile populations will be
presented during this session.

The International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for
those working in the field of HIV, as well as policy makers,
persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending
the pandemic. It will present new scientific knowledge and offer
many opportunities for structured dialogue on the major issues
facing the global response to HIV.

For more information on "Spaces of Vulnerability: Beyond
Stigmatizing Migrants", please go to:

"http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/events/eventEU/cache/offonce?entryId=28000">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/events/eventEU/cache/offonce?entryId=28000

Or contact:

Rosilyne Borland

IOM Migration Health Department

Tel +33 682 70 6494

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