(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Headquarters, Turkeyen, Guyana was the venue on Tuesday May 11 for the historic signing of Phase 11 of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS (PEPFAR)/Caribbean Regional Partnership Agreement Framework between the CARICOM Secretariat and the United States (US) Government.

The Agreement was signed by Her Excellency Lolita Applewhaite, CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General, on behalf of the Secretariat. Ms Karen Williams, Charge d’ Affaires of the United States Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana was the US representative for the signing.

Under PEPFAR 1, Guyana and Haiti were earmarked as the main beneficiaries, but this chapter would see 12 other CARICOM Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname being included as a bloc.

The PEPFAR Caribbean Regional HIV/AIDS Partnership Framework has been harmonised with the Caribbean Regional Framework on Caribbean Regional HIV and AIDS Partnership Framework 2010 – 2014, coordinated by the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP). It will see the provision of up to a maximum of US$25 Million annually over the next five years for programmatic cooperation in five areas: prevention, laboratory strengthening, strategic information, capacity building and sustainability.

Ambassador Applewhaite described the Framework Partnership Agreement as “an important milestone in the evolution of PANCAP,” and “another clear signal of its maturing relationship with the foremost international development partners providing support in the field of HIV and AIDS.”

She said the Region was “pleased,” with the new dispensation would see the injection of new funding that was “of vital importance to sustaining the regional response to HIV and AIDS.”

Establishing the critical importance of the Partnership Agreement, Ambassador Applewhaite said while the epidemic in the Caribbean continued to show “definite signs of stabilisation,” a number of “worrying features” persisted.

Statistics had shown that AIDS-related illnesses now loomed as the fourth leading cause of death among women, and the fifth leading cause of mortality among men, she added.

She noted that these trends emphasised that “much more remains to be done” and as a result, there was a demand for the allocation of resources which had challenged all Caribbean countries to provide.

In explaining the scope of the PEPFAR program in the Region, Ms Williams said it was a collaborative effort of the government of the US, the CARICOM Secretariat through PANCAP, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the beneficiaries.

Its focal elements were partnership and working with national governments and regional programs on ownership and support of national programs, which were to complement the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS, she added.

The Charge d’ Affaires stated that PEPFAR employed a diverse strategy which encompassed prevention, treatment, and care with an emphasis on partnerships, transparency, and accountability for results coordinated from the US Embassy in Barbados.

She said the PEPFAR/Caribbean Regional Partnership Agreement Framework came to fruition as a result of collaboration among several US agencies: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Defense, the Peace Corps, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Department of State.

In addition, country consultations were conducted with national stakeholders and regional programs in each country to identify the programme priorities, which the Partnership Framework embraced.

She said that the Partnership will focus on implementing policies and practices to optimise effectiveness of resources in key areas including health, workforce capacity building; gender equality; protection of human rights; effective HIV counselling and testing; and other areas to be identified as the partnership develops.

In his remarks, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General Human and Social Development, Dr. Edward Greene, said that the new phase of the PEPFAR Caribbean Regional HIV/AIDS Partnership Framework underscored the commitment of the US to broaden its commitment to the HIV/AIDS response in the Caribbean region. He added that the CARICOM Secretariat was very appreciative of the efforts which had made possible the Framework Agreement.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org