Costa Rica’s Business Association for Development Promotes the Involvement of the Business Sector in the Response to HIV

AED has developed its HIV workplace policy with technical assistance from the USAID|PASCA LMG Project and has led efforts to engage its more than 150 member firms. The association has taken HIV issues to the top echelon of the private sector and has made one of its work groups available to companies: Business Response to HIV. This work group seeks companies' compliance in following the Guideline to Prevent HIV in the World of Work, issued by the Occupational Health Council under Costa Rica's Ministry of Labor. The guideline is aimed at complying with HIV Millennium Goals and the Initiative on Humane Work and Economic Development. With AED technical assistance, in alliance with USAID|PASCA LMG, 20 firms have created and are implementing their HIV policy. These firms are directly benefiting 50,000 workers and nearly 200,000 indirect beneficiaries. AED has also developed and published a Toolbox to persuade firms to incorporate into the business-sector response to HIV and to improve it. The Toolbox is a free instrument that provides support to planning, policy development, and implementation of HIV programs. The Toolbox helps companies to generate the processes necessary to guarantee the human rights of workers with HIV, to promote a culture of prevention in workplaces, to encourage stigma- and discrimination-free environments, and to make easier the alliances to promote education, voluntary testing, counseling, occupational health, and access to post-exposure prophylaxis in cases of sexual violence. In August 2014, AED facilitated a workshop to promote the Toolbox, which provided a good opportunity to share the successful experiences of implementing policies. The Kimberly Clark firm and the Costa Rican Red Cross provided practical examples of how the tool has been useful to address prevention and awareness-raising programs. The Business Association for Development is a leading organization that promotes the engagement of the business sector in the response to HIV. AED's efforts have been instrumental in taking HIV issues to the top echelon of the private sector and in creating a culture of prevention in workplaces. The association's work has directly benefited 50,000 workers and nearly 200,000 indirect beneficiaries, and has contributed to the improvement of HIV programs in Costa Rica. The Toolbox developed by AED has been a valuable resource for companies seeking to address HIV and its links with corporate social responsibility. AED's involvement in the national response to HIV has been a strategic investment in long-term growth and profitability, and has contributed to the sustainability of HIV programs in Costa Rica. The association's work has demonstrated that addressing HIV is not only a social-responsibility matter, but also a business imperative that can have a positive impact on the bottom line. By promoting the engagement of the business sector in the response to HIV, AED has helped to create a culture of prevention and has contributed to the improvement of HIV programs in Costa Rica.