Press Release

OPEC Fund and ILO launch multiregional HIV/AIDS project

20/2005 March 15, 2005, Vienna, Austria

The OPEC Fund for International Development today approved a grant of US$2 million to jointly finance a project with the International Labor Organization (ILO) for the development of workplace policies and programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The US$4 million, multiregional initiative will be carried out in 12 selected countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Globally, over 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, including at least 26 million who are in their prime productive years. The impact on human capital is grave, with virus-induced incapacity and death eroding the labor force and reducing productivity. For the worst affected countries, ILO has calculated a likely workforce loss of between 10 and 30% by the year 2020.

The workplace is recognized as an effective setting for HIV/AIDS prevention activities. As well as being a key place of contact with the most afflicted age group, it is an accepted source of authoritative messages and has a tradition of training and education.

The joint OPEC Fund/ILO initiative aims to sensitize government ministries, workers’ and employers’ organizations and associated civil society organizations to HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue and, through a process of collaboration, to develop policies and programs that will allow the integration of HIV/AIDS prevention and care into the workplace. The outcome of the two-year project is expected to be raised awareness and understanding of the disease, greater support to those infected and less discrimination among employers.

The OPEC Fund contribution will be drawn from its HIV/AIDS Special Grant Account, which was launched in 2001 with an initial endowment of US$15 million. Subsequent replenishments have boosted the account to US$35 million. Fund-sponsored projects are currently ongoing in all developing regions of the world, in association with lead agencies such as UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNECA, WHO and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

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