Canada South East Asia Regional HIV/AIDS Programme (CSEARHAP)

The Canada South East Asia Regional HIV/AIDS Programme (CSEARHAP) is an initiative sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in response to the issues and nature of HIV vulnerability among mobile populations.

CSEARHAP GOAL: To reduce vulnerability of migrant and mobile populations by strengthening the capacities of stakeholders in each of the four countries so they may design and implement national HIV/AIDS prevention strategies with a view to establishing a comprehensive mobility model.

CSEARHAP (seeRHAP, n):

• a four-country program serving regional HIV/AIDS prevention partners and going into partnership with government organisations, NGOs, civil society and mobile populations to create safer communities for all.
• a program specifically targeting mobile and migrant populations.

• three consortium members: CARE Canada, HealthBridge Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH)
• four country partners: National AIDS Authority (Cambodia), National Committee for the Control of AIDS Bureau (Lao PDR), Ministry of Public Health (Thailand), and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Ministry of Health (Vietnam)
• and several partners, including UNESCAP, IOM, APN+, Red Cross, Policy Project, Migrant Forum in Asia, FHI, and ILO.

Activities: The major activities that CSEARHAP will undertake include:

Policy and Advocacy:

• Reforming and enforcing policies on the basis of lessons learned and progress made each year in each country.
• Facilitating understanding of the priority legal and policy issues arising in the context of HIV/AIDS and migration, opportunities and obstacles for change in the four project countries and the regional policy context.
• Emphasizing pro-poor aspects of public sector reform in each country.

• Developing national plans that comprehensively address the issues surrounding mobility and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in the region.

• Mainstreaming gender and the role of women in HIV prevention programming.
• Developing a tool kit and documents background information, research and effective methodologies and best practices in the region . Training on "Gender sensitivity, anti-discrimination and destigmatization".
• Reducing poverty through providing adequate access to primary health care and culturally appropriate information on HIV/AIDS prevention for migrants.

• Strengthening the core competencies of individuals and institutions to execute HIV/AIDS prevention strategies.
• Developing and implementing change management strategies within each sector of government, private sectors, civil society and groups that represent mobile and HIV/AIDS affected populations.

• Establishing working groups and task forces, etc. to coordinate and share information, materials, consultants, and forums: Mobility AIDS Partnership (MAP-4), UN Task Force on Mobility & HIV Vulnerability Reduction (UNRTF), ASEAN Task Force on AIDS (ATFOA), etc.

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