engaging the wives of governors in supporting the positive health, dignity and prevention of women living with hiv
Hind HassanUNAIDS - Sudan
Patron of the Sudanese
Coalition on Women and
AIDS
Dynamics of the Epidemic
69,000 people living with HIV,• 28,000 in need of treatment - only 2500
on treatment• 5,000 mothers in need of treatment to
prevent transmission to their babies (only 76 on ART)
• Low concentrated epidemic• IBBS shows generalized epidemic in
some key populations (MSM, FSW)
Main Challenges
• HIV is not considered priority in low prevalence settings
• Stigma and Discrimination (Islamic country - sharia law)
• Low level of HIV testing and counseling, - Testing the wrong groups
• Low Treatment coverage and adherence
• Insufficient political leadership –no domestic resources - dependence on donor funding
• Limited “meaningful” engagement and capacities of civil society organizations, including faith-based entities
About the ProjectProject title: Building the technical and
institutional capacity of the Sudanese Coalition on Women and AIDS to better support positive health, dignity and prevention of WLHIV
Duration: one year
Funding: seed funding from UNAIDS
Overall GoalStigma reduction and mobilization of State level policy makers in support of creating an enabling environment for women living with HIV to access services
ObjectivesIncreasing women uptake of HCT Increasing pregnant mothers’ uptake of
PMTCTImproving the livelihoods of WLHIV and
their families
The Sudanese Coalition on Women and AIDS
Membership: all civil society organizations working on HIV, women and girls issues
Patronage of First Lady at National LevelPatronage of Wives of Governors – First
Ladies at State levelStrategic framework in place (vision, mission,
operational plan)No funding mechanism yet
Target group
17 wives of State Governors
17 representatives of State Ministry of Social Welfare
10 media personnel
5 women living with HIV
A 3 Phase- campaign
Phase (1): November-December 2012capacity development
Bringing together a partnership from each StateWife of the governorMinistry of Social Welfare and Women AffairsMedia WLHIV
Sensitization of the group on current HIV situation
Key facts on HIV transmission, prevention, treatment and care
Specific needs of women and girls and women living with HIV
Output of Phase 110 months action plan with the following
elements:
Mobilize Governor and other Policy makers at State level to include PLHIV needs and issues in their plans,
Mobilize women leadership at State level to provide support to women living with HIV;
Speak and be seen publicly supporting PLHIV/WLHIV
Improve the financial livelihoods of a number of women living with HIV as a pilot
Mediashifting from just reporting on HIV data to
more of analytically covering the issues of stigma and discrimination and vulnerabilities and needs of women and girls
Phase (2): January – October2013Seed funding to be provided for 10 States.
Main criteria for choice of State will be the number of people living with HIV in the State (membership in the Association). The seed funding will kick-start the work on the developed action plan.
advocacy and community mobilization events at the State level under the leadership of the Wife of Governor;
income generating activities for women living with HIV
Media and communications
Phase (3): October – Dec 2013
During this phase, the work during the first 2 phases will be consolidated and a report will be generated. Focus group discussion will be conducted with the same groups to evaluate the work and results of the advocacy campaign and generate recommendations and follow up action required.
Key messagesWork with the community for the community
Speak the language of the community
Use the power of women leadership
Use safe entry points – ride the right waves
Tailor your expectations to reality
SHUKRAN