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WELLBEING: HIV AND AIDS, PREVENTION
AND CARE:
The role of HR
1 A Center’s HR group has a key role in developing, introducing and sustaining policies, practices and services for prevention of HIV and AIDS and care for those who have contracted it, across all geographic locations where the Center has staff. This role includes:
- supporting management in the development and implementation of Center policy and practices for HIV and AIDS prevention and care;
- communicating the Center’s HIV and AIDS policy to all staff;
- identifying and liaising with local HIV and AIDS service organizations and other resources in the community, at all locations where the Center conducts its work;
- planning and delivering (possibly through outside agencies) the education or prevention components of the Center’s HIV and AIDS program;
- arranging appropriate provision of voluntary confidential counseling and testing (VCCT) services;
- fostering a supportive and non-discriminatory working environment for those infected with HIV and AIDS;
- monitoring and evaluating the Center’s HIV and AIDS program and reporting to senior management.
One consequence of this set of functions is that HR staff must be trained to carry out these activities. Another is that HR staff working directly with staff living with HIV and AIDS must also have access to counseling.
supporting management in the development AND IMPLEMENTATION
of Center policy and practices
2 HR plays a key role in assisting senior
management in developing policies and practices for the prevention and
care of HIV and AIDS.
3 HR is the linchpin for policy in this area. HR staff members should be aware of specific problems faced by staff in specific locations. They are also most likely to be aware of good practice in this field, including emerging developments and initiatives taken by other Centers.
4 All Centers are encouraged to localize HIV and AIDS policy in very concrete terms. For example, HR needs to ensure that explicit information is readily available to its staff at all sites regarding:
- sources and cost of ARVs;
- identification of vetted VCCT clinics;
- sources of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) kits; and
- lists of locations for safe blood.
An example of such information appears in Tips and Tools.
communicating the Center’s
HIV AND AIDS policy to all staff
5 In some respects, the communication effort
for HIV and AIDS policy resembles efforts required for a change program.
One cannot assume that a person can hear the message once and fully
absorb it. Rather, that message needs to be reinforced periodically.
Also, considerable attention needs focus on ensuring that “no-one slips through the net” of
communication. For example, Centers need to ensure that all staff members
have attended relevant education and prevention programs, including those
who may have been on duty travel, engaged in meetings or on leave when
those programs were first presented at their site/s.
6 HR also has an important role in ensuring that line managers at various levels understand their own responsibilities (and accountability) for implementing and reinforcing the Center’s HIV and AIDS policy and procedures.
identifying and liaising with local HIV AND AIDS service
organizations and other resources in the community
7 Since most Centers
have staff located across a range of countries and duty stations, HR
has to identify appropriate local providers of services such as education
in prevention or voluntary HIV and AIDS counseling and testing. Such
providers must be technically expert, culturally sensitive and able to
meet the Center’s criteria
for delivering quality services. HR also can identify experts from
local ministries of health who can provide guidance and support for
workplace interventions.
planning and delivering the
education AND PREVENTION componentS of the Center’s HIV AND AIDS
program
8 A range of issues
relating to education and prevention practices is covered in the Sample
Practice, “Model Practice
for education and prevention”.
9 HR is responsible for ensuring that education and prevention activities (possibly delivered through outside agencies) are comprehensive, properly structured and sensitive to local community attitudes. HR is also responsible for ensuring that these activities are delivered at all sites where the Center has staff, including staff hosted by other Centers or institutions.
10 In particular, HR must ensure that all educational messages and prevention activities are delivered in a holistic manner and updated regularly.
arranging appropriate providers of voluntary CONFIDENTIAL
counseling AND TESTING (VCCT) services
11 A range of issues relating to
voluntary testing and counseling services is covered in the Sample Practice, “Model
guidelines for voluntary HIV and AIDS counseling and testing”.
12 HR is responsible for identifying suitable providers for voluntary testing and counseling services across all sites and ensuring that the service providers meet the defined criteria for such services and guarantee appropriate employee confidentiality.
fostering a supportive and non-discriminatory working
environment for those living with HIV and AIDS
13 A key component of a
Center’s HIV and AIDS program is to foster
a workplace that does not
discriminate on the basis of disease. This
may be a serious challenge in some communities. Consequently, HR has
a key role in communicating and reinforcing this aspect of the Center’s
policy, and monitoring if and where this message has or has not been
absorbed.
14 In addition, the Sample Practice, “The role of line managers”, explains that line managers must be prepared to act if they see (or suspect) that an HIV-positive staff member is being discriminated against by her/his colleagues. HR must be available to support the line manager in meeting this responsibility.
monitoring and evaluating
the Center’s
HIV AND AIDS program and reporting to senior management
15 In addition
to its policy development and implementation role, HR has responsibility
for periodically reviewing the impact and effectiveness of the Center’s
policy and practices, and reporting to senior management with options
for future refinement.
© CGIAR Gender & Diversity
Program 2006