A cross section of professionals involved in the HIV Response in the Caribbean met in Trinidad and Tobago recently for a training workshop aimed at preparing them to meet the requirements of reporting on progress to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS ) on HIV and AIDS. The Caribbean is proud of its record as the only region that recorded 100 percent of countries reporting for the 2008 UNGASS.

Professionals attending the training were as follows: 30 participants from 14 Caribbean countries, 12 participants from regional institutions and partners , including Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC ); Caribbean Drug Abuse Research Institute; Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC); Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP ); PEPFAR/USAID; OECS/HIV/AIDS Project Unit; Population Services International; Caribbean HIV/AIDS Alliance; and CRN+. There were eight participants from the UNAIDS Co-sponsors (UNESCO, ILO, PAHO/WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and World Bank) and four UNAIDS Monitoring and and Evaluation Advisers.

UNAIDS was very pleased to see all key partners involved in the training and was encouraged by their willingness to support the UNGASS process at the country level. Facilitators of the workshop included staff from UNAIDS and CHRC .

Overall, the workshop met its goals and objectives:

• participants shared their experiences in the area of monitoring and evaluation,
• they were trained on the 12 components essential to the assessment of national M&E systems,
• participants were also trained on the on-line reporting on 2010 UNGASS and CRIS3 and
• developed draft national plans to implement the 2010 UNGASS Reporting activities as well as the rolling-out of the CRIS3.

http://www.unaidscaribbean.org/article.php?id=272