Empowering communities for improved access to HIV services

In Uganda, IDLO provided technical and financial support to partner organizations conducting training and awareness-raising activities for adolescent girls and young women.  The training aimed to cultivate community advocates and paralegals among the adolescent girls and young women to serves as change agents in their communities.

“Before the project, we heard of girls being violated but we did not know what to do. We did not have information on how to support our friends. We did not know where to obtain health services or what to do when we reached a police station. We were unaware of our rights and we felt lost and powerless. Sexual violence used to be stigmatized and girls were blamed for being violated,” stated one of the young women trained to become a community health advocate.

“Through the trainings, we learned about the health and legal services that girls can access in case of violation. I am now confident to demand that the health and legal services that I am entitled to are provided to me.”

To motivate and engage the community in ensuring access to quality HIV and health services for adolescent girls and young women, under the Dreams Innovation Challenge, village health committees were tasked with mobilizing communities, so that they could access the training and sensitization sessions organized by the project. Members of the village health committees were also trained under the program on HIV-related issues and SGBV.  

In the Kyampisi sub-county in Uganda, the Chair of the village health committee, noted: “Before the project, girls use to fear health centers. They felt judged by the health workers and they certainly did not go to the police. All of this has now changed. The adolescent girls and young women in our villages are aware of the services available. Young women do not fear health centers anymore and the sensitization campaigns supported by the project has significantly changed the attitude of health workers.”

“Before the project, girls use to fear health centers. They felt judged by the health workers and they certainly did not go to the police. All of this has now changed."

In Tanzania, the project was implemented in the districts of Shinyanga and Kahama. In both districts the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence, child marriages, teen pregnancies and HIV prevalence is generally higher than other parts of the country. “We noticed that SGBV was an epidemic within the region. A patriarchal culture, combined with limited awareness on HIV and SGBV as well as poverty, were identified as the leading causes of these records," remarked a project coordinator with IDLO’s national partners speaking about the challenges in Shinyanga and Kahama.

"To address these challenges, the project put a lot of effort into the provision of continuous training to the targeted beneficiaries. The training provided to adolescent girls and young women allowed them to train other girls, really spreading the knowledge on HIV and SGBV. This project has empowered all of us, the communities, the girls, the service providers and even myself.”

The project engaged a range of stakeholders across the justice chain to ensure the firm link between HIV-related services and sexual and gender-based violence. Speaking about the role of the judiciary, a Magistrate at the Shinyanga Primary Court in Tanzania, noted:   

“Many magistrates, including myself, attended the exercise organized in the district. We also benefitted from the trainings. I personally learned a lot in terms of HIV, including the requirements of the HIV and AIDS Prevention Act. In one phrase, I can clearly say that this training allowed us to improve the administration of justice."