HIV/AIDS seminar

Developing trade union responses to HIV/AIDS in southern Africa Johannesburg seminar, 7-9 December 2004
In December 2004, more than 70 delegates representing public-sector unions from across southern Africa came together in Johannesburg to forge a joint approach in the fight against HIV/AIDS, an epidemic that kills over 6,500 people across the region every single day.

UNISON organised this forum as a direct response to our increased commitment to support our trade union comrades in southern Africa as they strive to mitigate the impact and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS among their members and more widely in their societies.

The seminar successfully fulfilled its primary objective of bringing together public-sector unions from across southern Africa to motivate greater individual and joint action in dealing with HIV/AIDS in the workplace.

Participants from different unions and from 10 different countries shared examples of their current activities and discussed the role of political activism in tackling the epidemic.

It was an important opportunity for union representatives to learn from each other, exchange ideas and share experiences of their members' struggle against HIV/AIDS.

We hope that this initial region-wide meeting will stimulate greater co-ordination among the unions and lead to practical projects specifically designed by and for workers in the public sector to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

PDF downloads:
Executive summary
Full report

PowerPoint presentations
HIV/AIDS
PSI: Responding to HIV/AIDS
SACTWU: HIV/AIDS and STI project 2004
SAMWU presentation
Patrick Mazila: Workers' education

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