BARBADOS: SUSTAINABILITY WORKSHOP ON HIV/AIDS IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000161

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR AND DRL/IL
USDOL FOR ILAB
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BB ECON ELAB KHIV PGOV PREL SOCI XL
SUBJECT: BARBADOS: SUSTAINABILITY WORKSHOP ON HIV/AIDS IN
THE WORKPLACE

REF: 04 BRIDGETOWN 2396

This cable is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: On January 29-30, the U.S. Department of
Labor-International Labor Organization's HIV/AIDS Workplace
Program hosted a sustainability workshop, which focused on
developing a strategy for carrying forward the Program's
mission after the Program officially concludes in December

2007. With over fifty government, private sector, labor, and
NGO participants, the workshop provided a good opportunity to
review progress to date, discuss best practices, and reach
agreement on a sustainability plan for 2007 and beyond.
Unfortunately, the workshop also demonstrated some weaknesses
in Barbados' fight against HIV/AIDS. End Summary.

MAKING PROGRESS SUSTAINABLE
--------------


2. (U) The U.S. Department of Labor-International Labor
Organization's HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program, which
was launched in Barbados in 2004 (reftel),organized a
"sustainability workshop" on January 29-30. The three-year
Program is scheduled to end in December 2007, and the
organizers' objective, as suggested by the workshop's theme
"Finding the Anchors," was to reach an agreement on and
mobilize support for carrying forward the Program's efforts.
Over fifty government, private sector, labor, and NGO
representatives attended the workshop. The two-day workshop
included presentations on progress to date, case studies on
best practices, and working group sessions on various aspects
of the HIV/AIDS effort, such as tripartite collaboration,
enterprise work, informal economy, and the role of mass
media. At the conclusion, the workshop brought together a
high-level panel that included U.S. Ambassador Mary Ourisman,
AIDS Foundation President Colin Brewer, President of the
Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations Sir Roy
Trotman, and the President of the Barbados Employers'
Confederation Dr. Hensley Sobers.


3. (U) The workshop resulted in a general agreement on a
"Sustainability Plan" to maximize the impact of the Workplace
Education Program in its last year and beyond. The workshop
participants agreed that the Sustainability Plan must have a
national scope, incorporate tripartite participation, include
timelines and benchmarks, and be coordinated with Barbados'
National HIV/AIDS Commission. The participants also
envisioned creating a small coordinating body to carry
forward the Sustainability Plan after December 2007.

CLOSING THE GAPS
--------------


4. (SBU) The strong participation in the sustainability
workshop suggested that Barbados has a solid foundation for
future work and progress. Nevertheless, the workshop
revealed that Barbados will have to step up its efforts on a
number of fronts in order to meet the rising HIV/AIDS
challenge. While Barbados' HIV infection rate is reported to
be around 1.2 percent, a number of experts noted during the
workshop that they estimate for every one reported infection
another four to five that go unreported because of the stigma
and discrimination attached to HIV/AIDS. Several also noted
that in Barbados, a country of 270,000 people, one person
gets infected with HIV every single day.


5. (SBU) While the Barbadian government, private sector,
labor, and NGOs have implemented a number of programs and
campaigns targeting HIV/AIDS, many workshop participants
complained about the lack of coordination among the various
stakeholders and poor information sharing. The absence at
the workshop of the National HIV/AIDS Commission, the
government's lead agency charged with coordination and
information dissemination, was the most visible example of
these problems. Similarly, two years into the Workplace
Education Program, local companies are only now beginning to
discuss and share their best practices.


6. (SBU) According to some participants in the workshop,
another key weakness in Barbados' efforts against HIV is
funding. Although many speakers at the workshop called for

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HIV/AIDS workplace programs to be locally owned, few
companies have come forward with their own funding. Among
the noteworthy exceptions are the Fairmont Hotel, Goddard
Enterprises Inc., and Scotiabank. The workshop discussions
revealed that many Barbadian employers automatically default
to seeking funding from the government and international
donors, rather than committing their own resources. Even the
government is not immune. According to the Ministry of
Labour and Civil Service Permanent Secretary Carston Simmons,
he recently spoke with ILO Director General Juan Somavia to
press for continued funding for the Workplace Education
Program.


7. (SBU) In addition to a lack of resources, Workplace
Education Program's coordinator Arlene Husbands also pointed
to a lack of commitment on the part of the companies.
According to Husbands, only six Barbadian companies have
adopted workplace policies on HIV/AIDS. Another two
companies are working on such policies. Moreover, some of
the companies that have adopted HIV/AIDS policies have
couched them in what one participant described as the
"safer-sounding life threatening diseases" category.
Representatives of the companies that have adopted active
workplace HIV/AIDS education programs also complained about
difficulties in obtaining employee buy-in and keeping the
workplace peer educators motivated.


8. (SBU) Despite these problems, the Sustainability Plan
developed during the workshop represents a good roadmap for
future efforts. The key will be follow-through, and in this
regard, Barbados is blessed with a number of leaders who have
made the fight against HIV/AIDS their priority and who may be
able to breathe the much needed energy into Barbados'
efforts. Among them is Dr. Carol Jacobs, Chair of the
National HIV/AIDS Commission and Chair of the Board of the
Global Fund to Fights AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; Colin
Brewer, President of Barbados' AIDS Foundation; and the AIDS
Foundation's Executive Director, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland.

Comment
--------------


9. (SBU) The sustainability workshop was a good first step
toward mobilizing a more sustained effort in Barbados against
HIV/AIDS. Both of Barbados' two dailies gave the workshop
front-page and editorial coverage. To make the Workplace
Education Program truly sustainable, the public attention and
strong participation that the workshop attracted cannot be
allowed to dissipate with time. Those already committed to
the fight against HIV/AIDS will also have to find new, more
effective ways of reaching the public. Otherwise, they will
continue--as one participant put it--"preaching to the
converted" and never succeed in turning the tide against
HIV/AIDS.
OURISMAN