The Project Management Group (PMG) for the project “Strengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS/STI in the Caribbean” (SIRHASC) is due to meet later this week in Saint Lucia to assess efforts at building the Region’s capability to combat the dreaded diseases. The Project Management Group of five regional institutions will also fine-tune a range of activities slated for next year, completing the three-year programme of cooperation among these institutions.
Foremost among the Agenda Items of the Meeting which opens at the Bay Gardens in Rodney Bay in Saint Lucia on Thursday 31 October 2002, is the review of the Work Programme and Cost Estimates for the next period of work under the project, commencing 1 January 2003 and ending 31 December 2003. The Meeting will consider Technical Reports from the implementing agencies, focusing on the status of project implementation under the current work programme (May–December 2002). A Project Financial report is among the range of issues for discussion. This is in addition to a Global Implementation Plan which outlines the time frame and costs relating to all activities over the life of the project.
Represented at the two-day meeting will be officials from the five implementing agencies, the Caribbean Epidemiological Centre (CAREC), the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC), the Caribbean Regional Network of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+), the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the University of the West Indies (UWI).
The CARICOM-Executed project, SIRHASC commenced on 1 July 2001 and is of three (3) years duration with funding from the European Union in the amount of 6.9 million euros.
