Background

According to a report, almost a quarter of people living with HIV in Yunnan are unemployed (24.3 per cent). Interview with people living with HIV support groups in Yunnan found that most of unemployed people living with HIV want to find a job or start their business after they get through some period of isolation from the society by themselves. Employment is a way for people living with HIV to go back to normal life and support themselves and family members to get food, housing and medicine.

Many livelihood programmes for people living with HIV have failed in the last ten years because of poor sustainability. This programme, with the support of UNAIDS, will build on an established nationwide network of small business development programmes, initially established under the ILO Start and Improve Your Business Programme (SIYB) and now institutionalized as a training institution linked directly to Ministry run employment agencies.

With the support of UNAIDS, the programme will work with the Department of Human Resources and Social Security in Yunnan to establish a mechanism for local people living with HIV support groups to refer unemployed people living with HIV to join the SIYB programme.

Activities mainly include:

• Training and advocacy for national and provincial level Employment and Training Departments – training to increase awareness of HIV policy and programme issues and employment needs of people living with HIV for officials responsible for Ministry employment services, vocational schools and small business development programmes;
• Training for employment services staff, vocational school managers and SIYB master trainers in Yunnan – this training will increase awareness of Ministry HIV policies and programmes and employment needs of people living with HIV. As a result of the training, focal points will be assigned in each of the participating agencies to provide confidential counseling and assistance to people living with HIV for accessing employment services and training;
• Training and capacity building for HIV positive support groups in target provinces – the ILO will work with a human resource training company to develop the capacity of HIV positive support groups to deliver basic employment services such as career counseling, job search skills, resume development and interview techniques;
• On-going workshops on career development and job search skills in HIV positive support groups – provincial level experts from the Ministry of Human Resources, including vocational school teachers and SIYB trainers, will provide regular workshops and training for HIV positive support groups; and
• HIV positive support groups will provide referrals to Ministry of Human Resources vocational schools, employment agencies and business start up trainings based interests and needs of individuals. HIV positive support groups will provide follow up counseling and monitoring of individuals participating in the programme to measure outcomes and address service gaps or barriers in service delivery working with focal points in participating agencies.

Objectives

• To increase the capacity of HIV positive support groups to provide career counseling and maintain a referral network with participating agencies from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security;
• Increased capacity of Ministry of Human Resource employment agencies, vocational schools and business development programmes to provide confidential user-friendly services for people living with HIV; and
• Increased access for people living with HIV to quality jobs or skills and knowledge to start and maintain their own businesses.

Coverage

Programme priorities and geographic focus will link with the UN Joint Programme project in Yunnan.

For further information please contact:

Ms Wu Rulian
HIV/AIDS Focal Point
ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia
Tel: +86 10 6532 5091