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The project explicitly promotes change in favour of women and girls by strongly focusing on gender equality and women’s rights. It recognises, however, that reducing the increased vulnerability of women and girls implies helping men and boys to reduce their own HIV risk, challenging male perceptions, behaviour and norms, and facilitating the ability of men and boys to support women and girls in protecting themselves from HIV. The project is therefore designed to involve men and boys too.
Intervention levels
Research findings show that addressing gender-based attitudes, behaviour and norms in the context of HIV prevention can reduce HIV risk by, for example, increasing condom use and reducing partner violence. Research also shows that interventions at both individual and community/social levels tend to show better results. This fact explains the project’s multi-layered approach. The project calls for participating groups to conduct HIV prevention activities at two levels, and to join forces to create a “woman-friendly” social and legal environment.
Specific individual-level activities may include, but are not limited to:
- theatre and role-play;
- debates and discussions;
life skills training;
- peer-to-peer counselling and education;
- information provision.
On top of this, community-level activities may include:
- advocacy and lobbying;
- communications and media campaigns.
Groups can decide themselves whether they want to conduct similar interventions at individual and community levels. Some may want to do dialogue sessions on gender and HIV/AIDS with individuals, and hold the same type of activity with a group of community leaders. Others may only hold individual dialogue sessions while running a joint public information campaign with other groups.
Networking activities may include, but are not limited to:
- developing joint memberships or constituencies;
- alliance and coalition building;
- joint advocacy and/or lobbying activities;
- mutual capacity building.
For more background information on the project click on the heading of your interest:
