Research initiative in Java
Endah Triwijati, “Tiwi”, Lecturer on Sexuality, Gender and Health at
the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Surabaya, was selected to do a research initiative for the GDP in Java. Through this research STOP AIDS NOW! wants to learn if the activities have changed the levels of knowledge of the women and girls on HIV/AIDS, and their gender-related attitudes, beliefs and perceptions. The research initiative will focus on the GDP-Java because of the logistical and financial barriers to doing the research in Papua. Tiwi trained local groups to do data collection, and is currently involved in finalizing
the data collection process.

The latest news in Kenya
Crisis situation
For those of you in Kenya, the crisis is not news at all but an echo of the horror you have been living, but for other readers it may be interesting to know what has been happening. To put it roughly, President Kibaki was re-elected on Dec. 27, 2007, through allegedly flawed elections. The opposition (Orange Democratic Movement party; the leader is Mr. Raila Odinga) called for mass action without the government’s approval. Demonstrations turned violent, with the police killing several demonstrators. This resulted in a very violent situation throughout Kenya, especially in Nairobi, Central Province, and in the West of the Country. Approximately 300.000 persons have been displaced and 1.500 were killed. In addition it is reasonable to suppose rapes have been in the thousands. The indirect effects of the unrest have been far reaching as well. HIV care and HIV medication including post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) has been available throughout the crisis period, but it has not been accessible.

What does the situation mean for the GDP in Kenya?
In the immediate, it is catastrophic. But we cannot lose hope. As of mid February the situation seems to have calmed down a bit and some organisations are able to return to their offices. Some groups expect to be able to return to their project activities next month. Observers agree the current calm is highly fragile, however.
Given the fact that most of STOP AIDS NOW! local partners cannot take on their project activities at the moment, the working group of Dutch partners decided to halt temporarily the transfer of Gender Development Project grant money to Kenya, with the exception of the salaries of the project coordinator and project assistant. We agreed we would re-evaluate the situation on a regular basis, as our greatest wish is to get the activities rolling again as soon as possible. Fortunately, we are now receiving e-mails from groups telling us they feel comfortable starting up again.

Identifying gender and HIV and AIDS needs
The local coordinators are asked to identify specific gender and HIV and AIDS needs and issues that should be taken into account when determining the content and approach of the Gender Development Project in the future. If the activities to address those needs/issues require additional funding, the Dutch working group is willing to examine how to finance those activities.

The latest news in Indonesia
Project activities
Activities - Participating organisations
As of the end of the year, all 24 local partners participating in the Gender Development Project in Indonesia had initiated at least preliminary project activities according to their proposals. Some, such as LBK-UB and PKBI Yogya in Java and YPKM in Papua, already started moving beyond the early phases.

Activities – The Java Coalition
In Java, coalition activities centred around International Human Rights Day and the Campaign, “Women and Girls are Free from HIV/AIDS”. Activities at national level included a rally, a press conference, and a public dialogue with speakers from Rahima, PKBI, KPI, and other groups.

The public dialogue
The content of the public dialogue touched on the local (Jakarta) ordinance on public order. This ordinance bans street vending, busking, or begging, as well as persons with a disease that “causes discomfort to the public” from appearing in public spaces. The ordinance is viewed as a threat to HIV work as it could be used to cut our persons living with HIV from public areas. One hundred and fifty people attended the public dialogue session and press conference. The coalition also issued a declaration aimed at the ministers of health and women’s empowerment, respectively.

Local level activities
Local level activities were organized in coherence with the national level campaign. Thus, some partner activities focused on specific aspects of the national Campaign, such as prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. Actions included a march, a day of prayer and contemplation, a writing competition on HIV/AIDS, and an art show.

Activities – The Papua Coalition
In Papua, coalition activities were designed primarily to intervene at the provincial level. Coalition members drafted a local ordinance aimed at the Papua Provincial Health Service Administration. This work was accomplished in collaboration with an already existing civil society–based health working group. The draft ordinance was submitted to members of the local legislative body and the Papua AIDS Commission.

Mirroring the work in Java, the Papua coalition took up a campaign that linked the current Papuan political context to women’s rights and HIV. The campaign included a protest for women’s rights in which 250 people from 27 community groups and associations participated. It also included a follow up focus group discussion with representatives of the 27 groups on International Human Rights Day. A series of communications activities were also organized in connection with the campaign, including radio announcements and press articles.

Interesting publications, approaches and projects

Gender equality, transforming gender-based attitudes and behaviours and HIV