The Third Meeting of the Project Management Group for the European Union-funded project on “Strengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean” was convened at the Hilton Hotel in Trinidad and Tobago from 17-18 January, 2002.
The Meeting considered the performance reports from all six (6) implementing agencies during the first six months of operation of the project and agreed on the programmatic orientation to be pursued over the next year. In this regard, a new Work Programme and Cost Estimates for 2002 was prepared during the meeting for the approval of the Project Advisory Group which is scheduled to meet in Guyana on 15 February, 2002.
The main programmatic areas to be pursued during this year include post-graduate university training of professionals to contribute to the management, implementation and evaluation of national HIV/AIDS programmes, reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, expanding and strengthening regional and national networks of people living with HIV/AIDS, reducing high risk behaviour among vulnerable groups and operational research aimed at strengthening national HIV/AIDS programmes.
The Meeting was coordinated by the Project Implementation Unit of the CARICOM Secretariat and attended by representatives of the three campuses of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC), the Caribbean Network of people living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+) and the United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS).
Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, who chaired the Meeting expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project during its first six months of operation and noted that it was now poised for further acceleration in helping to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.
The project is funded from the resources of the European Development Fund in the amount of 6.9 million Euros. The Project Manager is Mr. Carl Browne.
