Canadian, African unions sign HIV & AIDS advocacy agreement
September 2, 2009
OTTAWA – The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has signed a landmark HIV & AIDS advocacy agreement with ITUC Africa – the African Regional organization of the International Trade Union Confederation. The accord creates a partnership approach to addressing HIV and AIDS in each jurisdiction and in promoting universal access to prevention, treatment and care of infected workers and their families.
CLC President Ken Georgetti says: "This agreement sets out a process to identify a wide range of common trade union activities with African unions, from training and education to joint political lobbying on issues at intergovernmental bodies, such as the G8 when it will be hosted in Canada."
Mr. Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, general secretary of ITUC Africa, says: "For the next two years we will set our HIV and AIDS priorities together with the CLC so as to better strengthen our workplace and other initiatives throughout Africa, especially through the strengthening of various projects in different countries."
The Partnership contains a provision for other actors to join the exercise, which also aims to focus on reaching agreement with employers, producing materials, supporting research and promoting action in workplaces.
The CLC has recently completed a consultation with its union members on how best to use the resources of its HIV/AIDS Fund – accumulated over recent years – and has produced a concept paper from which the Partnership Agreement is derived. The CLC Fund will support the Partnership for an initial period of two years.
Similarly the ITUC-Africa has produced a strategic plan that creates a basis for the Partnership and says there has been sufficient ground work to permit a strategic mapping to identify common actions both in Africa and in Canada.
The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and internetional unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.
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