Kenya

More than 1.5 million deaths have occurred in Kenya since 1984 due to HIV and AIDS. More than 3 million Kenyans are HIV positive and over 16% of the adult population is HIV infected. There are studies that show how the rapid spread of aids among the youth in Africa may lead to the declination of a whole generation. AIDS has been declared a national disaster. The enhanced security unit through its projects, aims to strengthen national and community response to AIDS epidemic.

The unit works toward upstream advocacy and policy advisory services, promote policy dialogue and foster institutional development amongst the government and the civil society organizations.

Above, the picture on the left is a Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre in Siaya district. On the right is Mr Francis Ruwa a HIV positive worker at the Kenya Ports Authority. KPA has incorporated the HIV/AIDS workplace policy so that its employees like Mr Ruwa have access to free Antiretroviral treatment and are not discriminated at work. The enhanced security component aims at further reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and improving the quality of life of those affected and infected, in line with Millennium Development goals while also strengthening the capacity to design, implement, monitor and evaluate HIV/AIDS programmes.

UN Learning Team on HIV/AIDS
The UN Learning Strategy on HIV/AIDS supports learning approaches that will make the UN more knowledgeable and competent in its work, both with partners and with our own staff, to: (a)help prevent and control the spread of HIV; (b)Ensure effective care, support and treatment for those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS; (c) eliminate the stigma and discrimination against those infected and affected; and (d)mitigate the impact of the epidemic.

Newsletters from learning team: January 2004, September 2003.

ACTIONS TAKEN SO FAR

Phase one of the training involves targeting all the employees of the UN system in Kenya.
So far over 1400 have been trained from across most of the agencies.
Plans for the training of the remaining staff is on course. We are likely to have the single largest number of staff to have been trained on HIV/AIDS among all UN duty stations.
The quality of training, both in content and methodology, has ensured that the interest generated among staff continues to grow.

Click here to read on the World AIDS day 2005.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, honors UNDP staff Elly Oduol.

Elly Oduol, Assistant Resident Representative was a co-winner of the UN secretary general's UN 21 Award 2004.He was awarded this for his efforts in supporting the 3C's policy programme.The 3C's are; confidentiallity, counseling and care.The programme supports staff and their family affected by HIV/AIDS,and maintains confidentiality,provides counseling and care.Click here to read more on the UN 21 Awards.

HIV/AIDS in the Transport Sector
HIV/AIDS interventions have also been mainstreamed into the transport sector to enhance responses and mitigate the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS within the transport sector and communities along truck stops on the Northern Corridor, in partnership with AMREF.

Comprehensive data has been collected on the situation and impact of HIV/AIDS in the transport sector in Nairobi and Mombasa. Operators/drivers of transport services and their support staff and customers have been sensitised, and work place policies have been formulated. Behavioral communication change material has been developed and field-tested and peer educators in transport companies have been trained.

Community Based HIV/AIDS Initiatives
Community based HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation efforts in Yala Division of Siaya District and Funyula Division of Busia District have yielded positive results. Community health workers, goodwill ambassadors and paralegals, were identified and trained in partnership with Pathfinder International.

The good will ambassadors and paralegals, have succeed in raising awareness amongst the community to the extent that there has been a marked increase in the use of VCT services and a reversal of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, as well as improved access to legal advice and services. The community health workers have provided home based care to the infected, monitored progress, made referrals, and identified orphans and vulnerable children for support through vocational training and food security projects. They have enabled people who are HIV positive to live positively and productively with the disease.