Asia-Pacific Regional Partner Profiles
St.John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre
St. John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre
Project: HIV and AIDS Education for Asian Migrant Workers
Activities include: advocacy; community education; economics; human rights; peer education; resource centre; training; research; workplace awareness raising for migrants, adolescents, AIDS service organizations, commercial sex workers, immigrants, women, primary and secondary schools, and churches.
The St. John’s Cathedral HIV Education Centre was established in 1995, and is a non-profit organization. It offers free sex and reproductive health programmes to local women, Asian migrant women and youth in both primary and secondary schools. Presently, our centre is the only organization focusing on the needs of women especially among Asian migrant women on sex and HIV-related issues in Hong Kong.
Research shows that migration and mobility play important roles in the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The link is evident in most parts of the world. For instance, Filipinos living with HIV and AIDS reported: 28% are workers who have returned home after working in other countries, while Bangladesh reported: about 41% of HIV-positive carriers have been migrant workers.
As revealed in local studies, many migrant workers have suffered from stigma, discrimination and the impacts of HIV and AIDS. Our own questionnaire survey conducted among Asian migrant workers in 2003 reflects similar findings. The majority are unaware of the supporting services available in Hong Kong.
The project aims to: raise awareness of HIV and AIDS and reproductive health among migrant women and encourage them to be tested regularly; improve the access of migrant women to community resources and support services; and promote a non-discriminatory and caring attitude towards People Living with HIV/AIDS.
PWRDF entered partnership in 2004 and anticipates completion of partnership in 2007.
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Source: CIA Factbook
