UNMEE/EDF start HIV/AIDS training programme

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the Eritrean Defence Force (EDF) have started a joint HIV/AIDS training course for UNMEE military and civilian staff, as well as for the EDF, an UNMEE press statement said on Tuesday. The week-long programme, the graduates from which will become “trainers and focal points of HIV/AIDS in EDF and UNMEE”, was officially opened on Monday in Asmara by Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ian Martin.

The exercise is the second phase of the training programme implemented from 16 to 21 July, targeting a core group of 25 EDF soldiers. Another group of 25 soldiers is participating in the second part of the course, half of whom are EDF personnel. The remainder of the group is made up of UNMEE staff based in Eritrea. The training would be extended to UNMEE Ethiopia, said the statement.

The objectives of this programme are to strengthen the capacity of each UNMEE contingent and UNMEE Field Headquarters to engage in behaviour-change interventions for the mission’s military and civilian personnel, increase access to and use of male and female condoms, and build the capacity of UNMEE to provide HIV/AIDS counseling and testing. It is envisaged that at the end of the course, participants will have formulated a draft training plan. The UNMEE-EDF joint effort is part of a major UN effort to ensure that the issue of HIV/AIDS is addressed within peacekeeping operations.