Unicef HIV programme officer to visit Iloilo
Mr. Philip Castro, UNICEF HIV Programme Officer will be in Iloilo City on February 8, 2008 as opening speaker on the second day of the Life Competence Learning Seminar at the Audio Visual Hall of the West Visayas State University, Iloilo City.
Mr. John Piermont V. Montilla, executive director of the Kabataang Gabay sa Positibong Pamumuhay (KGPP) said that the Life Competence Learning Seminar is a joint undertaking of the KGPP and West Visayas State University-University Extension and Development Center, and in cooperation with the Canstellation for AIDS Competence will be held February 6-10, 2008, and will also feature Professor Usa Duongsaa from Changmai Thailand as resource person on the topic The Practice: The AIDS Competence Process.
In a PIA interview, Mr. Montilla said that Mr. Castro's visit is part of his monitoring and evaluation-visit of the UNICEF country programme for children 6 implementation in Western Visayas. During the seminar, Mr. Castro will be presented with local responses of the local government units in the UNICEF-supported HIV programmes implemented in Bacolod City, Iloilo City and Estancia, Iloilo.
The UNICEF HIV Programme Officer is also scheduled to visit prostituted boys in Molo, the selected brothels in Iloilo where 100% condom use is being promoted, and to witness the planning workshops of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children in Baraqngay Sum-ag which is being spearheaded by the peer educators, the SK and Barangay Council.
The Barangay Sum-ag officials will highlight children's participation in responding to HIV and AIDS . The activity will also showcase the "TeenBayan," a joint partnership between KGPP and Barangay Sum-ag, where most-at-risk children and the youth learn about STI, HIV and AIDS, and other adolescent reproductive health issues.
Mr. Montilla explained during the PIA interview that the KGPP or Kabataang Gabay sa Positibong Pamumuhay is enrolled with the ADB-NGO AIDS Competence Programme funded by the Asian Development Bank in partnership with the AIDS Constellation Thailand, and it will go through two years of implementation in seven countries- Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand. (PIA/T.Villavert)