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