The Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) will host the Regional Meeting for Advancing Recommendations for Addressing Gaps in the Human Rights Response under its Justice For All Programme. Slated for Kingston, Jamaica on October 30 and 31, 2018, the event will benefit from funding from the CARIFORUM 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation.
The meeting will be used to disseminate the findings of an assessment of the human rights situation in the Caribbean, including a status update, gaps, and opportunities, as well as bottlenecks with regard to HIV-related stigma and discrimination and the broader issues of human rights affecting key population groups.
The meeting will also be used to validate the findings of the assessment, reach consensus on the key priorities at the regional level, and obtain stakeholders’ commitments for addressing the gaps for achieving justice for all.
Participants include selected policymakers from Ministries of Justice, Parliamentary Committees on Social Protection, Chief Medical Officers, Faith Leaders, Civil Society, People Living with HIV, Key Populations including Men who have sex with men, Sex workers, Transgender representatives, youth, and National AIDS Programme Managers representing Member States.
In an invited comment, Director of PANCAP, Mr. Dereck Springer said that the assessment provides the Region with a comprehensive report on the policy and legislative barriers that need to be overcome if the Caribbean is to achieve the end of AIDS by 2030.