Nigerian Government Approves Policy To Address HIV/AIDS in Workplace
The Nigerian government has approved a policy that aims to bolster the response to HIV/AIDS in the country's workforce, Minister of Labour and Productivity Hassan Lawal announced on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria, This Day/AllAfrica.com reports. According to Lawal, the policy provides guidelines that aim to assist in the establishment of workplace HIV/AIDS policies in the formal and informal sectors. He said the policy also aims to protect the rights of people living with and affected by HIV, as well as to provide information about options of recourse if they experience discrimination. In addition, the policy aims to increase the capacity of management and workers in handling HIV/AIDS issues in the workplace, Lawal said. Lawal announced the policy at the launch of an International Labour Organisation report, called "Equality at Work: Tackling the Challenge." According to the report, there have been successes and failures in efforts to fight discrimination -- including discrimination related to HIV/AIDS, disability, sex, race, religion, age and sexual orientation -- in the workplace. Lawal applauded ILO for bringing issues of inequality to a global level (This Day/AllAfrica.com, 5/14).
The ILO report is available online.