The Rwanda Social Marketing Project (RSMP) will be implemented by Society for Family Health, a Rwandan CSO. RSMP is a 3-year integrated social marketing project targeting key populations & focusing on HIV prevention; malaria; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); nutrition; family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH); child survival (CS); & maternal/child health (MCH). RSMP focuses on 12 districts which have HIV prevalence rates above the national average of 3% among adults aged 15-49.

The objectives are: 1) develop & manage a cost-effective marketing, sales & distribution network that improves access among key populations to branded health products; 2) continue to enhance services & referrals for key populations; and 3) increase availability of data & evidence to inform programming around key issues in HIV/AIDS, malaria, FP/RH and CS. Expected impact is: 1) reduction in risk behaviors; 2) improvement in MCH and RH through increased use of socially marketed products & high quality FP, antenatal & postnatal care services; 3) improved integration & sensitization on stigma, discrimination & gender equality; 4) improved nutrition, WASH, malaria prevention, CS & increased health-seeking behavior for most vulnerable populations; and 5) reduction in risk of HIV transmission through increased HIV testing & counseling.

These activities were previously implemented by an international partner; as a result of the transition to a local partner, they are now more cost-effective.

During FY14, RSMP will transition their paper-based information management system to an electronic monitoring system to allow the project to accurately record & project sales & stock of products. Entry & exit interviews will be conducted to allow the project to gather accurate, timely data.

In line with USAID Forward and the GORs policy to make local civil society organizations sustainable, RSMP will receive limited technical assistance from PSI for targeted capacity building in the areas of behavior change and communication, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, data utilization and basic planning. With technical support from PSI, RSMP will implement qualitative, audience centered monitoring of its programs. This will provide insight into how the target audience makes decisions and to identify what will resonate best in the Rwandan context.

During FY 2013, RSMP will use a paper based information management system to monitor program activities and plans to transition to an electronic monitoring system during the beginning of FY 2014. The RSMP team has developed and implemented appropriate forms to record essential data, trained staff on data collection and verification, developed quality assurance checklists and scheduled for routine data validation and verification. Throughout implementation RSMP will leverage existing national and partner data sources to inform decision making.

Entry and exit interviews will be conducted with CSW and MSM group members reached through the interventions which will allow the project to gather accurate, timely data which will allow them to adapt as necessary. RSMP will use smart phones for sales associates to map and input information on retailers directly. This will ensure that the project will be able to accurately record and project the sales and stock of product. This will allow RSMP to ensure that the appropriate resources are allocated to the right outlets while reducing costs which would be associated with a separate survey.

RSMPs VCT activities will support increased access to, and availability of, high quality VCT services that meet national standards for key populations, including commercial sex workers (CSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM), out-of-school youth and street children over 15. Targets, per population, will be determined in consultation with key stakeholders and after review of the current DHS data. Family planning will be integrated into counseling, and condoms provided to every client for dual protection.

RSMP will train new peer educators and peer education groups will be launched in the districts of Gichumbi, Huye, Namacheke, Ramagana, Berera, Kamonyi and Karongi districts. Training will consist of a workshop on HIV prevention, testing services, appropriate condom use, IPC techniques, MARPs friendly facilitation and data collection. Following the training, peer educators will be empowered to act as local health promoters and engage those in their communities with information on HIV prevention, counseling and testing, and product availability through interactive interpersonal communication (IPC) sessions.

RSMP will collaborate with MOH and clinical partners to provide outreach services to improve referral linkages for care and treatment services. Provision of counseling services will be complemented by IPC to increase demand for VCT among key populations and targeted condom social marketing activities to address factors increasing risk for HIV transmission, such as concurrent partners, gender-based violence (GBV), and alcohol abuse.

Supportive supervision and QA will include regular, joint supervision visits carried out by district health authorities and technical staff to provide support to VCT counselors and ensure high quality counseling and data collection.

RSMPs other prevention activities will support HIV/AIDS integration into FP/RH, MCH, CS, nutrition, WASH, and malaria services. In addition, HIV prevention activities will address factors influencing condom use as well as other norms and behaviors around HIV risk. Target populations will include high risk sexually active youth, urban men with discretionary income, key populations, PLHIV and couples.

The prevention interventions that will be implemented during COP 13 will address condom stigma, lack of condom knowledge, social norms, and barriers to condom communications. These issues will be addressed through peer education, product sales training, product sales, and linking with income generating activities. Additional strategies include hot-spot activities to increase condom access through outreach; behavior change communications targeting high-risk workers such as bar maids, domestic workers and commercial sex workers, and condom use demonstration kits. Condom communications will integrate gender considerations to empower Rwandan women to access and negotiate condom use.

The RSMP will develop a cost efficient social marketing demand-based condom distribution system by strengthening commercial distribution networks to reduce dependence upon the mechanism as a direct source of condoms. The RSMP will support onsite and radio wholesaler promotions, promotional support to distribution networks, and retail outlet creation. RSMPs marketing approach will allow public and community distribution of commodities ensuring all Rwandans access through community-based distribution. Supportive supervision and quality assurance (QA) will be conducted to inform condom social marketing activities, directing retail outlet creation and product promotion to areas underserved by the existing commercial distribution networks.