March 20-21, 2018

Health finance officials from Ministries of Finance and Health of Barbados, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago are convening this week with international experts from the USAID-funded Health Finance and Governance project for a 2-day workshop on Domestic Resource Mobilization for HIV and health at the Marriott Hotel in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Ms. Laura A. Griesmar, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS is opening the meeting, which will feature remarks of support by the Minister of Health Honorable John D. E. Boyce, M.P. Participants will also include leaders of respective National AIDS Programs, national coordinating bodies, PAHO/WHO, UNAIDS, and USAID are expected.
The objectives of the “Domestic Resource Mobilization for HIV in the Caribbean: Technical Workshop for Ministries of Health and Finance” is for Ministries of Health and Ministries of Finance to find a common language and work together to:

• agree on the most urgent priorities for problem-solving and funding HIV,
• define the funding gaps for critical health programs such as HIV,
• identify a tool, template, or process to improve their working relationships, and
• develop a country-specific action plan to ensure countries can respond with the efficient, effective, and timely use of their own resources to the expected decrease of external financing.

It is expected that a ministerial-level meeting will be held in June 2018, hosted by the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), to further the work of this workshop, and agree on a strategy for resource mobilization for the HIV response in the Caribbean region.

For questions or further information contact:
Lisa_Tarantino@abtassoc.com or +1 (301) 917-5064

Other Resources:

Barbadosadvocate.com. (2018). Increased domestic financing for HIV necessary | Barbados Advocate. [online] Available at: https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/increased-domestic-financing-hiv-necessary [Accessed 21 Mar. 2018].

Ms. Laura A. Griesmar, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS, Barbados Minister of Health Honorable John D. E. Boyce, M.P., Honorable Midori de Habich, Former Minister of Health of Peru, Julia Henn, Director, Health and HIV/AIDS Office, USAID/Eastern and Southern Caribbean, Lisa Tarantino, Principal Associate, Governance Specialist, Eastern & Southern Caribbean Region, HFG Project/Abt Associates, Dr. Marty Makinen, Health of Health, HFG Project/Results for Development and health finance officials from Ministries of Finance and Health of Barbados, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago AND leaders of respective National AIDS Programs, national coordinating bodies, PAHO/WHO, UNAIDS, and USAID