Montserrat Invited To Join CARICOM Campaign

Montserrat and other CARICOM members have been invited to participate in a campaign to end discrimination against persons living with HIV and AIDS.

A public awareness campaign on the CARICOM Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation has been proposed to achieve the removal of discrimination as a barrier.

Among those to be targeted are human rights activists, parliamentarians, faith leaders and youth. 

The campaign is intended to educate stakeholders on the use of the Model Legislation as a tool for mobilizing action to reduce instances of discrimination against vulnerable groups.

Emphasis will be placed on educating parliamentarians on the model legislation and establishing connections with the existing parliamentarian network.

Utilizing established mechanisms such as the Youth Parliament and similar platforms to increase awareness of the Model is also proposed as a mechanism for sensitizing key stakeholders including subject ministries and ministers responsible for reporting on Member States’ human rights obligations.

The proposal was made at a joint regional dialogue organized by PAN CAP.

The lack of standardized HIV education at the tertiary level was also identified as a barrier for reducing HIV infections.

Participants proposed advocating for the introduction of such a programme through collaborations with Ministries of Education with the intention of exposing youth within vulnerable groups to new data on HIV and AIDS.