(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     The first of a series of training sessions intended to heighten awareness of risk factors affecting mobile and migrant populations in Guyana was held here on 24 and 25 June 2014. 

The participants of these sessions include those who interface with migrant populations—healthcare workers, immigration officers, members of the police force and military, staff of key government ministries and representatives of nongovernmental organisations. Participants are provided with knowledge of cultural diversity, stigma and discrimination, human rights and migration as social determinants of health.

This activity forms part of the project undertaken by the German International Cooperation (GIZ) in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat/Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) to improve access to HIV services for mobile and migrant populations in the Caribbean. Guyana is one of the pilot countries for the project, and the training activity is being conducted in partnership with the National AIDS Programme (NAPS/ Ministry of Health) and Artists in Direct Support.

A module titled Stigma, Discrimination, Cultural Sensitivity and Human Rights Related to Health and Migration, developed by the technical experts at the IOM, is being used as a tool in these sessions.   Some participants will be selected for further training on how to use the manual to conduct similar awareness and training activities in their own organisations.

Activities are expected to continue through November.