Project Goal:

Developing inter-sectoral coordination initiatives and mainstreaming HIV/AIDS through sensitizing district officials of prioritized key development departments in the ‘A & B’ category districts in order to create an environment for scaling up implementation to achieve the NACP – III goals.

Project Purpose:

• To sensitize district officials of prioritized key development departments / organizations on NACP III and need for mainstreaming.

• To develop a district data base to evolve evidence based planning addressing and sustaining the mainstreaming efforts.

• To facilitate prevention care continuum in the district with improved linkages to address the vulnerability issues among the bridge and vulnerable population. 

CED (Tamil Nadu) was retained as a Training Institution by Tamilnadu AIDS Initiative (TAI) to train the sex workers and transgender community on alternate career option.  CED trained around 370 commercial sex workers including transgenders and their dependents in various skills such as fashion garment making, IT & ITES and Catering and Hotel Management.  TAI had taken an innovative project of rehabilitating the transgender community by forming Community Based Organizations in each district and bringing them together into a federation at the state level.  They are known as “TAI VIZHUTHUGAL” i.e. branches of banyan tree.  CED trained 167 office bearers of the CBOs in Entrepreneurship Development Programmes.

During the current year 2009 – 2010, as part of the implementation of the above EDP scheme among the transgender community, CED trained around 25 transgender community persons to establish and run a chain of Idly shops in Salem City.  The project received wide publicity in the media.