The Fourth Meeting of the Project Advisory Group (PAG) for the European Union-funded project on “Strengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS/STI in the Caribbean” will take place in Georgetown, Guyana, on Friday 15 February 2002. This regional project is being financed through the resources of the 8th European Development Fund in the amount of EUR 6.9 million and is executed by the CARICOM Secretariat. The overarching goal is to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS/STI in the 15 CARIFORUM Member States.
The meeting will be convened under the chairmanship of Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary General, Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat, who is also the designated Deputy Regional Authorizing Officer for the project. Foremost on the agenda of the meeting will be the ratification of the Work Programme and Cost Estimates for the next period of project implementation that runs from 1 May to 31 December 2002. These preliminary Work Programme and Cost Estimates were developed at the recent meeting of the Project Management Group held in Trinidad and Tobago on 17-18 January 2002, but require the endorsement of the Project Advisory Group before submission to the European Commission for final approval.
Other issues to be addressed during the meeting include a review of the progress achieved over the initial six months of actual project implementation, the financial status of the project, and emerging issues and considerations related to the successful implementation and sustainability of the project activities.
The core membership of the Project Advisory Group is drawn from the CARICOM Secretariat, the European Commission, the Pan American Health Organization, the Caribbean Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the Caribbean Conference of Churches, and representatives of regional governments, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The meeting will also be attended by representatives of all the implementing agencies under the project – the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), the Caribbean Regional Network of persons living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+), the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC), UNAIDS and the University of the West Indies (UWI).
The project is of three years duration, in the first instance.
