As in other parts of southern Africa, the existence of a patriarchal society in Lesotho furthers gender inequality and normalises gender-based violence. This creates an unsafe environment for women that compromises HIV programming and is in fact, a direct departure from the zero agenda goal of ensuring zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination by 2015. As this brief discusses, a protective legal and social environment is not just a possibility; it is a necessity. Without it, women will continue to be victimised and violated, with correspondingly dire implications for the HIV response. Without it, we risk undoing the gains made against HIV in Lesotho.

 

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LESOTHO, 6 June 2016 (SAfAIDS Media Desk) – In an effort to reduce harmful behavioral practices such as alcohol and drug abuse by young people, SAfAIDS and its partners in Lesotho have launched the Don’t Hit. Beat Abuse campaign. Targeting young people, the campaign is being run in recognition of how drug and alcohol abuse fuel new HIV infections, gender-based violence and other non-communicable diseases. 

SAfAIDS and Centre for Positive Care held a two days workshop from the 30 – 31 March 2015 at CASA Grande conference centre near Brits Town. The workshop was attended by 34 (20 females and 14 males) out of school youth from different farms and villages of Brits town.  The purpose of the workshop was to build capacity of YPiSA on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and HIV prevention.

UN High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment meets in South Africa

Why the Rock Leadership ‘90’ project?

 

UNAIDS set Fast Track targets on HIV prevention and treatment that are aimed at ending AIDS by 2030. These include reducing new infections to 500,000 and 200,000 by 2021 and 2030 respectively. By 2020 it is however hoped that 90% of people will know their HIV status, 90% are on treatment and 90% of them with viral suppression. These fast track targets have now been coined the “90*90*90*” goals.

 

 In pursuit of these 90*90*90 targets to be achieved by 2020, SAfAIDS will launch the Rock Leadership 90 Programme. A programme that aims to strengthen the capacity of 120 Traditional Leaders in 4 Countries to Champion and lead the response to the ending of HIV by 2030. Once the leaders have been capacitated they will be able to lead their respective communities under the auspices of the “Village to Village I know my HIV Status. Do You? 90*90*90 Campaign. The V2V I Know Campaign is thus an opportunity for religious, traditional and other leaders to engage with their communities to increase uptake of HTS.

 

Rock Leadership 90 Project Goal is to:

The overall goal of this intervention is to strengthen the community response towards the achievement of Fast Track targets for Ending AIDS; through capacitating community leadership to Champion the End of AIDS, in Southern Africa, by 2017.

Project Objectives:

The project seeks to achieve the following 4 specific objectives:

1. Build an evidence base, through community-led mapping of the local HIV response, including critical structures that are and can support the response and perceptions around HIV risk
2. Strengthen the capacity of 120 traditional leaders in 60 communities (15 per country) to guide the local AIDS response in their communities leveraging the inherent strength of the communities to define and lead their own response
3. Motivate and support 120 traditional leaders and local CSO partners to mobilize 90% of men and their families for HIV testing and linkage to care, access to pediatric ART and PMTCT to reach at least 90% of children, adolescents and pregnant mothers within the 60 targeted communities
4. Create a regional platform for linking, learning and sharing of promising practices on HIV community led responses for possible replication at national and regional level.

 

Target Group and Beneficiaries 

 

Primary Target Group: Traditional, Religious and other Community Leaders in Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Secondary Target Group: Community Based organisations

 

5. Geographical Coverage:

The project is being implemented in 4 countries in the districts listed below:

 

 

How Will Rock Leadership ‘90’ Be Delivered? 

The programme is based on an evidence based model where the community response is determined by the needs of the community through consultative approach. The model is reflected below:

 

 

The Change We Expect Includes:

The project is anticipated to realize the following long-term results:

 

• Increased Uptake of HIV testing for all community members and access to ART referral for children, adolescence and pregnant women in 4 countries in Southern Africa to reach at least 90% of people within the targeted 60 communities by 2017 

• Reduction in new HIV infections and improved health of communities leading to an end to AIDS

• Improved participation and commitment by community leaders to leading the community response to ending HIV.

• The development of community based responses to HIV and HIV related issues, led by the communities.

 

Knowledge for Action: The Power to Make a Difference!

Changing the River’s Flow – A gender Transformative Programme for Young People (CTRF 4 YP) (2015-2017)

MAKONI, 28 June 2016 (SAfAIDS) – Mazuru Passwell is one of the first 160 of 800 teachers to be trained in Zimbabwe, by SAfAIDS, under the DREAMS Initiative, to reduce new HIV infections in adolescent girls by 40% in two years. Teachers are being capacitated to deliver comprehensive HIV and GBV prevention in 30-minute Guidance and Counselling lessons.

NAIROBI, 22 September 2016 (allAfrica) – One Kenyan may soon place the country as the first nation whose citizen found a vaccine and a cure for HIV. Prof Thumbi Ndung’u – head of Kwazulu Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV pathogenesis — has been studying the virus for 27 years, as well as tracking the scientific developments aimed at finding a cure and vaccine for AIDS.

He noted that in 2013, at one of the world’s greatest scientists’ gathering called Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, a “Mississippi baby” was announced to have been cured of HIV. The baby was born to a positive mother who had not received any treatment during pregnancy.