December 2018 – July 2019
Client
FHI360
Location
Home-based and Zimbabwe
Collective Action, in partnership with the OPTIONS Consortium, developed a world-first training package for community-based organisations (CBOs) to train adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) to advocate for HIV prevention in their communities and support their peers to use oral PrEP. The training package includes a facilitation guide and a toolkit with resources for the Ambassadors to use when facilitating community activities. The package was developed through a co-design process with AGYW and CBOs, including through a workshop in Zimbabwe with young women and CBOs from South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
In addition to sessions on oral PrEP and HIV prevention, the training package includes sessions on gender, human rights, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and self-care. The package has been endorsed by PEPFAR 2020 Country Operational Plan Guidance, specifically for its guidance related to supporting AGYW who have experienced gender-based violence.
You can read the study here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36102070
The package has been translated into multiple languages and has been rolled out in communities across Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It has also been adapted for use with other priority populations, including men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, and people who inject drugs.
“Alison and her team worked with OPTIONS, a multi-country USAID-funded consortium, to produce an oral PrEP-specific training package for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Africa. The package was complete with foundational modules on sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, and HIV transmission and prevention – as well as a fabulous youth-friendly toolkit of printed resources for youth ambassadors to use in their community work. Of note, this package was field-tested in Zimbabwe, where local partners observed a significant increase in oral PrEP uptake by AGYW in areas reached by the training. The package was also referenced in the PEPFAR 2020 Country Operational Plan Guidance, specifically for its guidance related to supporting AGYW who have experienced gender-based violence.
Alison and her team worked with us remotely via email, phone calls, and webinars, as well as in-person during a prototyping workshop in Harare with partners from multiple countries. Throughout the project, Alison and her team were extremely flexible and responsive, ensuring that the training package would be able to meet the multiple needs of a variety of countries, NGOs/CBOs, and operating environments. It was a pleasure to work with her and the team, and the package has been well received by adolescent girls and young women, CBOs/NGOs, local governments, and funders alike!”
Morgan Garcia | Senior Clinical Research Manager, FHI 360
