From 2nd to 5th September 2014, Orientation sessions have been conducted on UN Cares by Mr. Dan Onyango-Maina, Regional Coordinator UN Cares in Asmara. UN Cares is the UN system-wide workplace programme on HIV that is aimed at providing comprehensive support to UN personnel and their dependents to respond to HIV.

The objectives of the orientation sessions were to one, mobilise commitment and support of UN leadership and management to the implementation of UN Cares in the UN system in Eritrea, and two, to build capacity of the UN Cares inter-agency team to improve coordination of implementation of the programme. Mr. Onyango-Maina met with the UN Country Team (UNCT), Joint UN Team for HIV/AIDS (JUNTA), and the Operations Management Team (OMT). The main objective of these meetings was to mobilize commitment and support of management and leadership to implementation of UN Cares in Eritrea.

For one and a half days he conducted a capacity building workshop for the UN Cares team for better implementation of UN Cares in Eritrea.

On the afternoon of 4 September Orientation sessions on UN Cares were conducted for all UN personnel in Asmara.  

At the orientation sessions, there were a series of presentations on UN Cares by Mr Onyango-Maina and Mrs. Senait Tesfamicael from UNAIDS.  In addition, the participants showed great interest through active participation, asking questions and discussing important points.

In his presentation, Mr Onyango-Maina said that UN Cares programme in Eritrea provides information, support and commodities related to the health and wellness of the UN Personnel and their dependants. He also talked on Adolescents and Sexual Reproductive Health. Mr Onyango-Maina put stress on confidentiality that is to handle staff’s medical diagnosis and reporting with high confidentiality. Furthermore, he reminded staff to take the 90 minutes mandatory E-course on HIV.

At the orientation, it was mentioned that though the prevalence rate in Eritrea is declining, the UN Agencies have to scale up their interventions. In line to this, the UN Cares Inter-Agency Team identified implementation gaps, challenges, priorities and the way forward on how to best implement the programme in the country.

 UN Cares in Eritrea is also providing HIV Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) Kits to UN personnel and their dependents. Staff members are expected to use all precautionary measures to avoid any possible exposure to HIV.  Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Kits are intended for use by HIV-negative persons in the event of accidental exposure to HIV. The UN PEP Kits are available to UN personnel in Eritrea and their immediate dependents who may have been accidentally exposed to HIV, irrespective of the means of exposure. Antiretroviral medications are a serious treatment taken under the supervision of a physician for an entire month that may cause various side-effects. 

PEP Kits are used after someone has been possibly exposed to HIV. However condoms are used for pre-exposure prevention of HIV.  Condoms are not only a means to protect one from being exposed to HIV, but they also help to prevent exposure to other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and are a means of contraception. Condoms significantly reduce the risk of infection for most sexually transmitted illnesses. It was emphasized in the workshop to put all female and male condoms in all UN Premises bathrooms.

 In the coming months and the year ahead, UN Cares in Eritrea will have several important activities focusing on UN Personnel and their recognized dependants in Eritrea.

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1. UN Cares Team with the Regional Coordinator, Mr Dan Onyango-Maina
2. Participants of the second  session.
3. Orientation Sessions going on with UN Personnel.