Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 22:45:37 +0200
All UN Personnel in Eritrea Briefed on UN Cares
10.09.2014
>From 2nd to 5th September 2014, Orientation sessions have been conducted on
UN Cares by Mr. Dan Onyango-Maina, Regional Coordinator UN Cares in Asmara.
UN Cares is the UN system-wide workplace programme on HIV that is aimed at
providing comprehensive support to UN personnel and their dependents to
respond to HIV.
The objectives of the orientation sessions were to one, mobilise commitment
and support of UN leadership and management to the implementation of UN
Cares in the UN system in Eritrea, and two, to build capacity of the UN
Cares inter-agency team to improve coordination of implementation of the
programme. Mr. Onyango-Maina met with the UN Country Team (UNCT), Joint UN
Team for HIV/AIDS (JUNTA), and the Operations Management Team (OMT). The
main objective of these meetings was to mobilize commitment and support of
management and leadership to implementation of UN Cares in Eritrea.
For one and a half days he conducted a capacity building workshop for the UN
Cares team for better implementation of UN Cares in Eritrea.
On the afternoon of 4 September Orientation sessions on UN Cares were
conducted for all UN personnel in Asmara.
At the orientation sessions, there were a series of presentations on UN
Cares by Mr Onyango-Maina and Mrs. Senait Tesfamicael from UNAIDS. In
addition, the participants showed great interest through active
participation, asking questions and discussing important points.
In his presentation, Mr Onyango-Maina said that UN Cares programme in
Eritrea provides information, support and commodities related to the health
and wellness of the UN Personnel and their dependants. He also talked on
Adolescents and Sexual Reproductive Health. Mr Onyango-Maina put stress on
confidentiality that is to handle staff's medical diagnosis and reporting
with high confidentiality. Furthermore, he reminded staff to take the 90
minutes mandatory E-course on HIV.
At the orientation, it was mentioned that though the prevalence rate in
Eritrea is declining, the UN Agencies have to scale up their interventions.
In line to this, the UN Cares Inter-Agency Team identified implementation
gaps, challenges, priorities and the way forward on how to best implement
the programme in the country.
UN Cares in Eritrea is also providing HIV Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
Kits to UN personnel and their dependents. Staff members are expected to use
all precautionary measures to avoid any possible exposure to HIV.
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Kits are intended for use by HIV-negative persons
in the event of accidental exposure to HIV. The UN PEP Kits are available to
UN personnel in Eritrea and their immediate dependents who may have been
accidentally exposed to HIV, irrespective of the means of exposure.
Antiretroviral medications are a serious treatment taken under the
supervision of a physician for an entire month that may cause various
side-effects.
PEP Kits are used after someone has been possibly exposed to HIV. However
condoms are used for pre-exposure prevention of HIV. Condoms are not only a
means to protect one from being exposed to HIV, but they also help to
prevent exposure to other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and are a
means of contraception. Condoms significantly reduce the risk of infection
for most sexually transmitted illnesses. It was emphasized in the workshop
to put all female and male condoms in all UN Premises bathrooms.
In the coming months and the year ahead, UN Cares in Eritrea will have
several important activities focusing on UN Personnel and their recognized
dependants in Eritrea.
<http://www.afro.who.int/media/k2/items/cache/57b36d7e736525199bc4e8b45d4c65
d8_XL.jpg?ua=1> UN Cares Team with the Regional Coordinator, Mr Dan
Onyango-Maina
UN Cares Team with the Regional Coordinator, Mr Dan Onyango-Maina
(image/jpeg attachment: image001.jpg)