The UN Cares Teams in Cambodia and Indonesia were recently recognized for their hard work in addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination as recipients of 2014 UN Cares Awards.
Last December, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the commitment of all UN Cares teams worldwide and congratulated the five winning teams including those in Cambodia and Indonesia.
The UN Cares Award is a way to recognize the global efforts of UN Cares teams that support and implement the UN Cares 10 Minimum Standards. These standards include sharing knowledge, making condoms accessible in the workplace, promoting the importance of knowing one’s status and other capacity-building initiatives that address HIV-related stigma and discrimination in communities.
UN Cares Cambodia team received the 2014 award for addressing stigma and discrimination. As part of the UN Cares global initiative on the elimination of stigma and discrimination in the workplace and in preparation for World AIDS Day 2013, UN Cares Cambodia brought attention to the issue of stigmatization through its successful awareness-raising campaign and town hall event.
During its week-long campaign, UN Cares Cambodia launched an interactive online quiz on the topics and circulated a variety of educational resources, including a leaflet related to stigma, a flyer on HIV, and the 10 Minimum Standards posters. Co-organized representatives from 8 UN agencies, the town hall event was attended by 100 UN staff members representing 15 UN agencies.
Building on this momentum, the UN Cares Cambodia team promoted its social media campaign with the theme #zerodiscrimination in preparation for Zero Discrimination Day on 1 March 2014.
In 2015, UN Cares Cambodia plans to integrate learning activities focusing on HIV, stigma and discrimination into the existing UN learning packages and a future staff orientation package. In addition, the development of a guidance document on condom distribution within UN workplaces was also discussed.
“Enthusiasm for the campaign, active audience participation and strong involvement of different UN agencies, especially the Heads of Agencies were the key factors that led to the success of the Cambodia country team’s initiatives. The award ceremony was an opportunity for the UN system to reiterate its commitment to be a model for HIV in the workplace. The stigma and discrimination are among the most challenging elements in the AIDS response and that they can only be eliminated through awareness and continue dialogue.” said Nimol Soth, the UNESCO representative from UN Cares Cambodia.
In Indonesia, the UN Cares team conducted a year-long campaign in 2013 in hopes of advocating for zero stigma and discrimination within the UN system, while encouraging UN staff members to live healthy and productive lives through their participation in Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT).
UN Cares Indonesia actively provided information on HIV and AIDS to UN staff members through learning sessions throughout the year.
In commemoration of World AIDS Day 2013, an intensive awareness campaign about VCT for UN staff was intensively carried out by UN Cares Indonesia through the distribution of brochures and posters.
As a follow-up to this campaign, UN Cares Indonesia hosted a voluntary HIV testing event with the support of two local NGOs (Angsa Merah and Yayasan Kusuma Buana) that specialize in VCT services. The event, which took place at their main country office, was attended by over 100 participants, 70 of which were tested on the spot, exceeding their initial target.
“A great team spirit to walk the talk is what we need to achieve Zero HIV/AIDS and Zero Discrimination at the workplace,” said Grace Halim Monica, former UNESCO representative from UN Cares Indonesia who is currently with ILO Indonesia.
For these efforts, the UN Cares team in Indonesia won the award that specifically recognized their hard work on the promotion of HIV testing and the importance of knowing one's status.
Other recipients of the UN Cares awards were: Bangladesh for its work to establishing a solid system for Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) kit availability and distribution; Guyana for its efforts to reach staff in a duty station with UN Cares learning sessions; and Namibia in recognition of its commitment to implementing wellness activities for UN employees and families.
View the 2014 UN Cares Award announcement
Contact:
UN Cares team in Cambodia
Nimol Soth, UNESCO Cambodia at n.soth@unesco.org
UN Cares team in Indonesia:
Grace Halim Monica, ILO at grace@ilo.org