HIV-AIDS in the Workplace : Plantation Workers Benefit from NGO Partnership with Unilever in Ghana

GOOD PRACTICE NOTE _ DECEMBER 2002 _NUMBER 2 Page 7 Good Practice Note HIV/AIDS in the Workplace Plantation Workers Benefit from NGO Partnership with Unilever in Ghana Fearing the devastating effects HIV/AIDS may have on workers on its oil palm plantations, Unilever partnered with the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation (GSMF) to improve the company's existing workplace program. The partnership was brokered by Commercial Market Strategies, a USAID-funded project designed to increase private sector participation in reproductive health issues globally. The program will reach almost two thousand oil palm plantation employees, their families, and the two communities surrounding the plantations (estimated at 100,000 people). Unilever provides staff hours, facilities, and transportation while GSMF: (i) trains peer educators; (ii) educates and informs the community about HIV/AIDS; (iii) develops educational materials for Unilever staff; (iv) promotes and distributes condoms; and (v) advocates for increased attention to HIV/AIDS issues (Unilever).