Labor Grant Will Provide HIV/AIDS Education

Chao Announces $2 Million Grant to Improve Working Conditions for Ugandan Laborers suffering from HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has announced a $2 million grant to fund a workplace education program in Uganda to help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. The grantees, World Vision and RTI International, will work to provide information about the disease while improving the work environment for laborers with HIV/AIDS. This project is part of the department’s HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program.

“Work sites are common meeting places which provide prime opportunities for HIV/AIDS education for workers,” said Elaine L. Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor. “This $2 million grant program will provide information that is essential to workers’ health and well-being and aid in the overall effort to eliminate HIV/AIDS.”

Components of the HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program in Uganda will include: prevention education in the workplace, development of workplace policies to address the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and capacity building activities for government, employers, and trade unions to strengthen the response to the epidemic. World Vision will also work in cooperation with local community/faith-based organizations to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS by educating Ugandan teachers on effective methods to prevent the disease. Another focus of the grants is the creation of a sustainable partnership between U.S.-based and Ugandan community, grassroots, and faith-based organizations working in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation.

World Vision International, a faith-based organization, is currently active in six continents. Through advocacy and intervention, the organization continues to improve the quality of life for individuals all over the world. RTI is a North Carolina based nonprofit organization that has helped countries solve complex problems for over four decades.

The implementing partners will collaborate with the Labor Department’s International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program to develop innovative strategies to address HIV/AIDS through efforts to promote safer, healthier, more productive work environments. These grants are funded through the International Cooperation Program of the Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs.

# # #

_________________________________________________________________

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.