IOM's Projects on HIV/AIDS and Population Mobility in Southern Africa

In Southern Africa, IOM started developing HIV/AIDS projects in 1999. Since then, IOM’s Regional Office for Southern Africa has developed the following HIV/AIDS and migration activities in the region:

Partnership on HIV/AIDS and Mobile populations in Southern Africa (PHAMSA)
In this three-year programme, which is financially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and by the SADC/EU regional fund, IOM will cooperate with the SADC Secretariat, sectors employing mobile workers, civil society and international organizations in order to create a more effective response to the HIV/AIDS vulnerabilities of migrant and mobile populations.

Migrant Farm Workers Research Project South Africa (2003)
The overall objective of this research project, which was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was to assess the HIV vulnerability of migrant farm workers, employed on commercial farms in South Africa. Commercial farm workers are a highly mobile group which so far has received very little attention in HIV/AIDS related research. By surveying 183 migrant and South African farm workers on 12 farms in two cross-border farming districts, IOM was able to identify important trends related to workers knowledge, attitude and behavioural practices towards HIV/AIDS, as well as their migratory patterns. The project also set out to gain a better understanding of the availability and access to health services by migrant farm workers in the receiving areas.

Research for action on HIV/AIDS and mobile populations in eight SADC Countries, Southern Africa (2002)
The overall objective of this project, which was funded by Sida, was to contribute to the understanding of migration dynamics in general in Southern Africa and to increase the overall understanding of the impact international migration has on the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as the impact HIV/AIDS has on migrants on which to base further development of projects. The specific purposes of this project were (1) to create a bibliography on mobile populations and HIV/AIDS of the eight SADC countries; (2) to analyse the available relevant laws and policies in the eight SADC countries pertaining to mobile populations and HIV/AIDS; (3) to map migrant communities in selected geographical areas in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique; and (4) to strengthen the understanding of the increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS for the different mobile populations in the eight SADC countries. The project produced three publications in 2002/2003 and a web based bibliography.

Private Sector Coalition Against AIDS (PSCAAL) Lesotho (2002)
This project, which is funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID) aims to assist in strengthening the private sector’s response to HIV/AIDS for the benefit of migrant and settled workers, and management in Lesotho. In Lesotho, industries, such as the garment industry, which is the quickest growing industry and the backbone of the economy, are based mainly in the urban areas of Maseru, Mafeteng and Maputsoe. As a result, the workforce include a large number of migrant workers which have left their spouses, children and/or relatives behind in the rural areas of Lesotho. Often these workers are more susceptible to risky sexual behaviour as they are separated from their primary partners, or may be forced to trade sex for transport and for food. The project therefore aims to i) enhance companies’ abilities to implement HIV/AIDS services to workers, ii) undertake baseline research which will inform HIV/AIDS prevention and home based care interventions within the workplace and community and iii) provide care and support through an information- resource-training center.

Migrants from Africa playing soccer against AIDS, South Africa (2000)
The purpose of this project, which was funded through UNAIDS’ Programme Acceleration Funds (PAF), was to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS among African migrants residing in Gauteng Province (South Africa) by combining HIV/AIDS information campaigns with soccer tournaments. At each tournament migrant volunteers who had been trained as peer educators in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and counseling, together with a locally contracted NGO provided HIV/AIDS information to both spectators and players. Also, during the tournaments, a small KAP (knowledge, attitudes and practices) survey was implemented to measure the knowledge, attitudes and behavioural practices of migrants.

The National Consultation on Migration and HIV/AIDS in South Africa (1999)
For 1998/99, UNAIDS designed a special campaign to give mobile and migrant populations more visibility as a vulnerable group because they are often stigmatized, have difficulty in obtaining relevant information pertaining to HIV/AIDS and in accessing proper care and medical facilities. For this reason, IOM and UNAIDS collaborated with the South African Departments of Home Affairs and Health to organize a National Consultation on Migration and AIDS in March 1999, with the aim of bringing all major actors in the field together for the first time.