27 January 2005

Ha Noi, Viet Nam: In an innovative programme to assist people living with HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is coordinating English classes in Vietnam’s capital city to encourage greater involvement in HIV/AIDS programmes and learning initiatives.

“This tutoring programme allows people living with HIV/AIDS and those working in this area to improve their English skills, self-confidence and the ability to access international research and funding opportunities,” says Robert Marten, the project’s manager. “It is essential that people living with HIV/AIDS participate in these kinds of programmes and activities.”

To date, more than 60 people living with HIV/AIDS and nurses and doctors who work in the field are learning about HIV/AIDS in English in a friendly, conversational and informal environment. The programme hopes that enhanced English skills will allow those on the frontline of the fight against HIV/AIDS to better interact with the international donor community, as well as access international knowledge and experiences related to HIV/AIDS programmes.

Classes are formed in small groups with four to ten students and one or two teachers. The teachers are a team of volunteers from Australia, the Philippines, the United States and Viet Nam. “Each day, we spend about 20 minutes on grammar, reading about HIV/AIDS and discussing it, and then the rest of the time working on our conversational skills discussing issues that are important to them,” says tutor Jalane Christie Tan, who recently began her class. “They [students] are very enthusiastic and interested in learning more about HIV/AIDS and how they can become more involved.”

The Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) is an ongoing initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Working within local communities in many countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, volunteers – many of whom are HIV positive – support health and homebased care, challenge stigma and discrimination, strengthen the capacity of self-help networks, and promote prevention programmes.

Yet, many Vietnamese people living with HIV/AIDS and working to combat the epidemic are still in urgent need of training and capacity development to enable their meaningful participation in HIV/AIDS activities. This tutoring scheme seeks to address these needs through increased awareness and involvement of those struggling with HIV/AIDS in related activities.

The tutoring scheme works in cooperation and consultation with international organizations (POLICY Project, CARE International, DKT International, the Medical Committee Netherlands Viet Nam, Smart Work), Vietnamese organizations (Institute for Social Development Studies, SHAPC, VICOMC,) as well as United Nations agencies and programmes (International Organisation for Migration, UNAIDS, United Nations Development Programme).