FROM: AFRO-NETS, http://www.afronets.org Invitation for Online Discussion on HIV/AIDS and Workforce Development ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Colleagues: As part of the African Technologies for Education and Workforce De- velopment Initiative (AFTECH), the Africa-America Institute is pleased to invite you to participate in our online discussion on HIV/AIDS and its Impact on Workforce Development (Southern Africa) that begins today and will run until August 13. The objective of this discussion is to identify the issues that will frame a conference we plan to hold during the fall and winter in South Africa on "HIV/AIDS and Workforce Development." We hope that you will participate actively and inform any interested colleagues of this discussion so that we can benefit from as much input as possi- ble. We will produce a report on this discussion when it closes, and will share it with all participants. To submit a statement to the discussion, please go to http://www.aftechonline.org and click on "Online Discussions" to ob- tain your login password and to access the discussion. Some of the initial questions we will be addressing are: 1. How are employers educating HIV/AIDS workers about the disease? 2. Southern African enterprises may be required to include in corpo- rate reporting the incidence of HIV/AIDS among their employees. What does this mean for employees who are infected with HIV/AIDS? 3. What roles do trade unions play on the rights of workers infected with HIV/AIDS? 4. The combination of the current southern African food famine and the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS are reversing economic development and growth in the region. What cross-sector approaches can private enter- prise, national government and multilateral institutions take to counter the combined effects of HIV/AIDS and the southern African food famine? 5. There are reports of "transient communities" (largely composed of truck drivers, miners, refugees and military personnel that account for a significant portion of those in the population in southern Af- rica who account for the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. Given their migratory status, how are these transient communities re- ceiving HIV/AIDS education, healthcare and counselling? 6. What also impacts the southern African economy is when young girls often engage in what may be termed "commercial sex". Commercial sex has at least two components: survival and transactional sex. The for- mer usually entails adolescents, with limited financial resources, offering sex in exchange for such items as food or money. The latter tends to include offering sex in exchange for commodities such as school fees, as opposed to a literal exchange of money. What are some of the factors explaining the rise in increasingly young girls in- volved in commercial sex relationships and what are some of the ways in which these trends can be reversed? Please note that these questions serve as a vehicle to initiate and guide the online discussion, but we hope that participants will pose and respond to other questions as the discussion moves forward. On behalf of the Africa-America Institute, I look forward to a fruit- ful and engaging discussion on HIV/AIDS and the workforce in Southern Africa. Sincerely yours, Nalova Westbrook Research Intern African Technologies for Education and Workforce Development (AFTECH) The Africa-America Institute 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036-2259, USA Tel: +1-202-667-5636 Fax: +1-202-265-6332 mailto:nwestbrook@aaionline.org http://www.aaionline.org --