(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) In its continued fight against HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, the CARICOM Secretariat has partnered with a Suriname-based Non-Governmental Organization, Stichting Projekta, and the World Bank to use alternative communication approaches such as edutainment strategies to raise the awareness on HIV and AIDS, reduce HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination and promote Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) through the use of the Visual and Performing Arts.
This strategy is supported by the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) as a mechanism for increasing public awareness on various issues, such as the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), HIV /AIDS and drug abuse. At the 27th meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in St Kitts and Nevis, in July 2006, Suriname’s President Dr. Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan, who is the Lead Head for Culture in the Quasi-Cabinet of CARICOM Heads of Government, recommended that edutainment should be more widely developed and promoted as a tool for advocacy and behaviour change especially among youth.
Funded by the World Bank to the tune of US$100,000, the project is aimed at producing the basic building blocks of a Caribbean HIV/AIDS edutainment kit. The kit will provide each country with materials to cover aspects of HIV/AIDS communication, using a wide array of alternative communication approaches complemented with information sheets on CDs that can be adapted to the specific needs of each Member State. The kit will also include lesson plans, videos and DVDs of edutainment films and documentaries, classroom simulation exercises and materials previously produced by Stichting Projekta.
The project is expected to be implemented over eighteen months starting June 2007 and ending December 2008. During this period, several activities will be undertaken including research on HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination and its causes in the Caribbean; the production of a 30-minute edutainment video, and a theatre play to be written and directed by renowned Saint Lucian playwright Kendel Hippolyte. All materials will focus on strong HIV/AIDS awareness messages and other issues such as healthy lifestyles, culture, gender and education. The project will also bring together writers and health specialists from Saint Lucia and Suriname in workshops in Suriname to establish the parameters of the products as well as the basic outlines for scripts and other related products.
Founded in Suriname on 15 June 1993, Stichting Projekta, is an NGO, which has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United States. Its main objective is to enable and to enhance the full participation of women and youth in the process of sustainable human development.
Other national and International organizations such as the National AIDS Programme in Saint Lucia and the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) are also supporting the project.
Education to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS is seen as a key factor in the fight against the disease and in reducing stigma and discrimination. An integrated approach with education, culture and media is considered an excellent tool in effectively undertaking HIV/AIDS Awareness activities.
