The IOM office in Mozambique will hold this week a two-day regional
workshop on HIV responses for mine workers, their families and
affected communities in southern Africa.

The meeting, which opens on 27 May in Maputo, is organized in
partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and is
hosted by the NGO TEBA Development.

It will bring together key players from the National AIDS
Councils, ministries, chamber of mines, private sector, unions,
ex-mine worker associations, research organisations and NGOs from
eight southern African countries, to share experiences and lessons
learned, and good practices of HIV responses in the mining
sector.

Research conducted in different southern African countries shows
that HIV prevalence and vulnerability to HIV infection is higher
among mineworkers, their families and surrounding communities than
the general population.

This increased vulnerability results from a number of
structural, environmental and individual factors such as single sex
accommodation, limited recreational activities and easy access to
sex workers or other regular sexual partners.

Moreover, given the dangerous and risky nature of their work,
many mineworkers tend to be more preoccupied with the immediate
dangers around them, and preventing sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV, is not often perceived as an immediate
priority.

At a broader policy level, structural factors such as sectoral,
national, and regional policies on labour, migration and health
also have an impact on the HIV epidemic, primarily by determining
the conditions under which the mining sector operates.

To this end, the workshop will also identify existing gaps and
challenges in policies, programmes and research, in order to
outline and inform an effective and comprehensive regional HIV
programme.

This regional workshop is 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, the programme targets sectors that are
characterised by high levels of population mobility, including
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 further information on PHAMSA, please go to

"http://www.iom.org.za/PHAMSA.html" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iom.org.za/PHAMSA.html

Or contact:

Nosipho Theyise

IOM Pretoria

Tel: +2712 342 2789

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