RESPONDs goal is to improve the health of families in Côte dIvoire by preventing HIV transmission and facilitating testing and treatment by 1) increasing awareness and improving male gender norms among health care providers 2) fostering community and male support for healthy SRH behaviors; 3) increasing knowledge, access and use of FP/SRH-HIV services (particularly PMTCT). RESPOND will strengthen:a) capacity of healthcare providers to deliver client-centered SRH and HIV servicesb) capacity of partner organizations to engage men in SRH and HIV servicesc) community support for male engagement in HIV prevention and family planningWith support from the national programs for HIV/AIDS care and for reproductive health, all MAP activities will have technical assistance (TA) from MAP trainees who will monitor MAP activities in health facilities and in communities.To be more cost-efficient, RESPOND has streamlined its staff. A sustainable and low cost response, built into the program includes an increased level of effort of MSLS and male civil servants, trained in the MAP approach, to continue program as a core group of skilled local resources.Expansion of the MAP approach will engage partners/spouses of pregnant women in gender equity awareness and promotion; reduce high-risk behavior; and address GBV.Performance and outcome monitoring will consist of ongoing documentation of project outputs and training outcomes via pre-and post training assessments. Experienced M&E staff will work closely with counterparts to report on the project indicators.No vehicles have been or will be bought.

RESPOND will work with supervisors of target health facilities to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Health and AIDS (MSLS) to support male-friendly services. To complement the national efforts to scale up services for women and their babies, RESPOND will help MSLS to also highlight mens health issues through the development of comprehensive services. The skills gained from this program will enhance the supervisors ability to conduct regular supervisory visits in a manner more conducive to achieving performance improvement measures.RESPOND will work with the National HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Program (PNPEC) and National Reproductive Health Program(PNSR) to implement Men as Partners program activities. RESPOND will help these two MOH programs with coordination of their interventions to contribute to healthy gender norms and practices. For this, RESPOND will work through the existing gender group to focus on gender norms approaches such as PEPFAR and GBV prevention and response to strengthen the capacity of the working group so that they can be used in other area of the Ivorian health system.

RESPOND will continue to strengthen community support for male involvement in HIV prevention and family planning and increase demand for SRH/FP and HIV and GBV prevention services. RESPOND will utilize existing community support groups (youth and adult) to provide support and follow-up of HIV services with referrals to HIV and SRH/FP services. RESPOND will continue to support its implementing partner, the Ministry of Education, to incorporate gender into ongoing HIV prevention efforts through a Men as Partners (MAP) refresher training, and will train additional 50 peer educators (e.g. teachers) on MAP interventions.

Using lessons learned from FY11 activities, RESPOND will refine and reinforce existing interventions to support MEN through workshops and dialogue to strengthen 50 peer educators efforts to help men understand how gender and social norms increase their and their partners risk for HIV and how they can adopt and promote alternative healthier behaviors.

Reports suggest that sexual violence has spiraled in recent years in both scale and brutality. While precise statistics are lacking, women and girls are the primary targets of sexual violence. RESPOND will strengthen GBV prevention efforts through peer education, by using the MAP approach within communities. Community opinion leaders will be trained by RESPOND to reach not only HIV positive individuals (women and their male partners), but also to advocate against family rejection and social stigma of GBV survivors. Community and MEN peer educators will be trained on GBV prevention efforts using the MAP approach.

Approximately 20 community leaders will be trained in GBV prevention efforts using the MAP approach for community engagement. This activity will challenge gender norms that contribute to gender-based violence and increase awareness of gender-based violence response.

RESPOND will collaborate with various partners to increase the involvement of men in prevention of HIV and gender-based violence. Materials to be developed will build on an information network where lessons learned are shared in an ongoing and systematic fashion in order to improve gender-based interventions for HIV prevention, and care and support.

RESPOND will expand skills and knowledge of the national HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Program (PNPEC) to train health providers at supported sites to work effectively with men and women on reproductive health and sexuality issues, including gender concerns. The training modules will include sexuality, HIV and AIDS, condom use, contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and service management, counseling and communicating with staff and their clients.

The training is intended to equip health providers to address the SRH needs of couples and to contribute to the elimination of HIV stigma and discrimination. The training will also focus on prevention and early treatment of STIs, including use of condoms.

RESPOND will systematically encourage HCP to provide syndromic management of STIs for male clients visiting the health centers. RESPOND will work with implementing partners to ensure the availability of STI drugs and condoms at facility pharmacies.

In light of the Men as Partners program review, peer educators (from Ministry of Education and the community) will be trained and provided ongoing support on male engagement in HIV prevention, condom use and family planning promotion in the catchment areas of supported clinics.

RESPOND PMTCT interventions will promote couples counseling and testing via community engagement to promote male involvement.During FY 2012, the RESPOND Project will increase the supply of male-friendly SRH/HIV services, improve knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among men toward use of SRH and HIV information and services and strengthen policy and support for HIV/SRH services that are responsive to the needs of male clients.

RESPOND will continue to strengthen the capacity of healthcare providers to provide high quality SRH and HIV services. At the community level, EH/RESPOND will work with support groups to increase demand and improve male gender norms and health seeking behavior.

In light of FY 11 successes, RESPOND will extend the MAP interventions to additional facilities supported by EGPAF, ICAP, HAI, ARIEL and ACONDA. RESPOND will train PEPFAR partners working to strengthen HIV and PMTCT services in new geographic areas. (Sud Comoe, Moyen Comoe, Zanzan, Marahoué, Haut Sassandra, Worogougou, Fromager Lacs, and Agneby). RESPOND will build the capacity of partners who provide PMTCT and SRH services to serve male clients, with an emphasis on couples counseling and HIV counseling and testing.

-Improved gender-based violence response efforts across MAP supported sitesContributing to the national strategic plan to reduce HIV incidence, RESPOND will train providers in medical care and psychosocial counseling of GBV survivors, including specific training on the ethics of management of client/patient data. RESPOND will conduct formative research to help HCP and stakeholders to identify GBV service availability and service quality gaps at the MAP supported PMTCT sites through baseline clinic assessments.

During FY12, RESPOND will train personnel from social centers located in the catchment areas around PMTCT facilities which have integrated MAP activities to encourage male partner referrals of all postpartum women (HIV+ or HIV-) for testing. Fifty (50) social workers will be trained on: 1) male-friendly services, 2) couple counseling and testing; 3) FP counseling and options, and 4) stigma reduction. RESPOND will also train the social workers to set up referral points in their community to meet the psychosocial needs of GBV survivors.

Drawing on experience with support groups from COP 11, RESPOND will continue to provide technical assistance to an additional 70 peer educators trained on community MAP sessions to provide men with ongoing support on male engagement in HIV prevention and treatment.

To foster an enabling environment for SRH/HIV services for men and women, RESPOND will:-Convene a steering committee working group to identify existing protocol materials and draft training modules to strengthen health providers response to GBV. This will be completed at the beginning of COP12 to inform future GBV trainings for providers and community members.