(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A review of the regional mechanism for tackling HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean will feature high on the agenda when the CARICOM/PANCAP Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) meets in St. Vincent and The Grenadines on 20-21 September 2007.
Under the chairmanship of the Hon. Dr. Jerome Walcott, Minister of Health, Barbados and present Chair of the RCM, this ninth meeting of the RCM will undertake an organisation and management review of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit (PCU). There will also be discussion on the rotation of country representation on the RCM and the evaluation and revision of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework, currently in process.
Up for discussion also is the status of the Global Fund projects being implemented by the PCU, Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); and other PANCAP projects, including Law, Ethics and Human Rights, Information and Communication and the Caribbean Education Sector HIV & AIDS Response Capacity Building. The meeting will also receive updates on the evaluation of the Champions for Change process and the recent donors’ meeting which was held to discuss continued financial support for PANCAP.
As part of its outreach efforts into the national communities, a special opening session will be held at which a cross-section of representatives from Government and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) involved in the fight against HIV & AIDS is expected to engage members of the RCM.
During this session, Archdeacons of the Anglican Diocese, Dr. Sylvanus Regisford and Rev. Charles Adams will be conferred with the title `Champions for Change’, in recognition of their work in HIV and AIDS primarily through the House of Hope Society .in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Hon. Dr. Douglas Slater will deliver the feature address at the Opening Session which begins at 9:00, at the Sunset Shores Beach Resort.
Eestablished in 2001, PANCAP – a network which comprise governments and the private sector, and faith-based organizations and other NGOs, regional institutions such as CAREC, CRN+, CHRC, UWI, UNAIDS and the UN system in general and donor partners – continues to make an important contribution to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean Region.
