Media sensitisation workshop hosted

The Hope Worldwide (PNG) in partnership with the National AIDS Council Secretariat hosted a Media Key Population Sensitisation Workshop in Port Moresby today.

The purpose of the workshop is to aid the media, in partnership with civil society organisations, to report sensitive issues affecting key populations in communities.

Regional manager, Valentine Tango, says the workshop also provides an opportunity for the media to report on different programs that advocate for improved accessibility to quality health services, especially in terms of the different terminologies that various modes of media systems use. These terms may enhance and promote discriminatory and egocentric biasness against key populations within the general or mass population.

“With the aim to increase the capacity of community based organisations in Papua New Guinea, the objective of the workshop is to increase capacity and provide necessary funding support to CSOs to identify barriers that make it difficult for key populations to access equality services, strengthening social support and health systems to facilitate greater access to HIV and AIDS services for key populations and to increasing participation and representation of key populations in governance structures that influence services for key populations,” Tango says.

Media fraternities by the end of the workshop are expected to:

  • Know who key populations are and understand why they do what they are doing
  • Understand the risky practices that key populations are involved in, or is a threat (HIV infection) to everyone in the community and country as a whole;
  • Know the importance of key population’s human rights to be free from stigma and discrimination to access vital health care or HIV services;
  • Understand that the creation of free and enabling environment for key populations to access clinics can contribute to the national goal of HIV epidemic eradication in the country; and
  • Communicate the plan for doing media advocacy in empowering key populations to access clinics for HIV/AIDS services.

 

 

 

Author: 
Annette Kora