The Tribune

US Charg� d’Affaires John Dinkelman has announced the five recipients of the 2012 President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief small grants programme.

The PREFAR programme is part of the Caribbean Regional Partnership Framework against HIV/AIDS and focuses on prevention activities that encourage communities across the Bahamas to co-operate in the fight against the epidemic.

During a presentation on Friday, Charg� Dinkelman congratulated this year’s grant recipients and reiterated the embassy’s continued commitment to partnering with the people of the Bahamas in the global fight to end HIV/AIDS.

Since 2009, the US Embassy has provided local organisations with more than $104,000 in PEPFAR funding to support HIV/AIDS related community-based projects on New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.

This year, the US Embassy received a record number of dynamic proposals from various non-governmental organisations throughout the Bahamas that target the most at-risk populations and those engaging in high risk behaviour.

The five groups selected received grants totalling more than $18,000 to assist with initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS.

The new recipients of PEPFAR small grants include:

• The Crisis Centre – To conduct awareness workshops on dating, violence and HIV/AIDS geared towards teens in the Family Islands.

• The Red Rose Ball Committee – To conduct awareness workshops led by health experts targeting high school students on Grand Bahama who will focus on abstinence, prevention, and peer education.

• HOPHAS (Haitian Organisation for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS and STDs) – To conduct Creole radio and television Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in Abaco and Nassau related to HIV/AIDS prevention, exclusively geared toward the Haitian community in co-ordination with the Bahamas’ National AIDS Programme.

• The Bahamas National Network for Positive Living (BNN+) – To conduct a three-day training on grief and loss counselling and various intervention strategies for members of the organisation’s outreach team in Nassau.

• The College of The Bahamas (COB) – To support an arts and music competition for COB students to promote HIV/AIDS awareness, workshops to promote awareness and free status testing in co-ordination with the Bahamas AIDS Foundation.

The embassy will announce a new call for PEPFAR HIV/AIDS small grants proposals in the summer.