HIV in the workplace

By Dieneke ter Huurne, HIV Officer (IPPF Central Office)

HIV is a workplace issue. According to the International Labour Organization, nine out of every ten people living with HIV will go to work each day (available here). Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination remain a reality in many workplace settings. To counter this, it is imperative that we adopt, institutionalize and internalize HIV workplace policies and programmes across the Federation.  Such policies and programmes serve to sensitize, inform and educate our staff and volunteers about HIV and AIDS. They also act as a way of challenging, and ultimately reducing, instances and acts of discrimination towards those living with or affected by HIV. 

As an employer of more than 30,000 staff around the world, and working in collaboration with more than one million volunteers, IPPF has a collective responsibility to provide a supportive and non-discriminatory work environment for all. In 2010, IPPF’s Governing Council adopted a revised HIV policy, which includes our commitment to addressing HIV in the workplace. We have institutionalised this commitment by making it a requirement for accredited Member Associations to have an HIV workplace policy. By 2011, more than 83 per cent of all Member Associations had a written HIV workplace policy; up from 56 per cent in 2009.

IPPF also actively encourages people living with HIV to work and volunteer in Member Associations and across the Secretariat. In order to support people living with HIV working in the Federation, IPPF+ was launched to ensure IPPF is recognized as an organization that not only responds to HIV issues in the communities in which we work, but also as an employer that has grappled with the workplace effects of this epidemic.

The challenge now is to bring these policies and initiatives to life and internalize HIV workplace programmes across all our offices and branches. Three key strategies to do this are included in the box below. IPPF has also developed a training guide to support staff at IPPF Regional Offices and Member Associations with planning and facilitating HIV workplace trainings. It will become available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic early in 2013 – so keep an eye out for it! 

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