SUMMARY:

This activity involves the Population Council (PC) working closely with the South African Council of

Churches (SACC), the Eastern Cape Provincial Council of Churches and the Mpumalanga Provincial

Council of Churches to pilot and scale up a community-based HIV and AIDS prevention program focused

on abstinence and being faithful messages that are delivered to out-of-school youth in two provinces of

Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape in South Africa.

These organizations have a wealth of experience in youth interventions, and have conducted relevant

activities in the two provinces selected. The program should be highlighted for its intended contribution

toward strengthening social mobilization and community involvement in prevention initiatives for out-of-

school and vulnerable youth in particular. Emphasis areas include training and gender, and target

populations are adolescents, adults, people living with HIV and AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children,

street youth, pregnant teenagers, and religious leaders will also be targeted through community outreach

programs.

BACKGROUND:

Based on their comprehensive and complementary experience working with young people, during FY 2008

the Population Council, the Eastern Cape Provincial Council of Churches and the Mpumalanga Provincial

Council of Churches intend to design, implement and evaluate HIV prevention AB activities among out-of-

school and other vulnerable youth who are not well reached by programs in largely rural and peri-urban

areas in the EC and Mpumalanga. The program will deliver tailored AB interventions and messages to

reach youth based on their age, sex and needs. It will work through youth clubs, churches and community

groups. The program will draw extensively from the work of two partners in South Africa that formerly

collaborated with the Population Council/Horizons Project and in Zambia where PC/Horizons worked with

hundreds of out-of-school youth to implement a three-year program, which trained young people to provide

care and support for people living with AIDS and OVC and to engage in prevention activities. The FY 2008

program will strengthen social mobilization and community capacity and involvement to participate in

prevention initiatives for out-of-school and other vulnerable youth.

This AB prevention program emphasizes strategic information: processes and progress will be

systematically documented at all stages. Routine programmatic routine data will be collected and analyzed

on a small-scale operations research basis. Routine data will be tracked on a monthly basis to obtain

program outputs such as the number, age and gender of the beneficiaries reached. The field support staff

will receive training on strategic information, and will be responsible for collecting the required information.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

ACTIVITY 1: Pilot and Scale-up

For FY 2008, this program will initially be piloted in two rural communities in one district in the Eastern Cape

(Amathole) and also in a district in Mpumalanga (Nelspruit). The pilot will be refined within six months and

expanded to four additional communities in these districts by the latter six months of the year. In year two, a

second district will be identified in each of the two provinces (Mqanduli in the EC, Mpumalanga will be

determined) for further expansion and scale-up. This strategy will allow for a phased-out scale-up

approach, giving the partners the opportunity to develop and test relevant interventions, apply lessons and

program results in the new sites, while strengthening activities in pilot sites. It will also provide the

opportunity for the different communities and stakeholders to share lessons facilitate and support activities.

The AB Prevention component will include messages to delay sexual debut, reduce number of partners,

channel youth interest to include healthy activities such as sports, drama and other community activities,

and promote counseling and testing.

ACTIVITY 2: Implementation and Assessment of Prevention Messages and Interventions Through

Community Outreach

The focus of this activity is implementing and evaluating a relatively broad set of prevention outreach to the

out-of-school youth. While the clear focus is on HIV and AIDS prevention, an underlying objective is

encouraging the out-of-school youth who had failed to complete school (e.g., due to pregnancy) to re-enroll

and complete their education. Youth will be encouraged to explore training opportunities that will assist

them to participate in income generating activities within their communities. Peer educators, youth mentors,

community leaders and stakeholders will also be trained to promote HIV prevention messages. Male

participation will be enhanced through targeted initiatives such as male forums that discuss gender norms

and dynamics in the communities.

The individuals targeted for exposure to predominately AB prevention messages are not the same

individuals targeted for exposure to messages that are predominately Other Prevention.

Other activities will include the promotion of secondary abstinence, channeling youth interest to include

healthy activities such as sports, drama and other community activities, messages and support around

abstinence, being faithful messages for youth with partners and partner reduction and including promoting

access to counseling and testing, messages on cross-generational and transactional sex, and finally,

messages on gender norms aimed at reducing violence and coercion. The prevention strategies and

interventions that are deemed feasible, acceptable and successful will be assessed and documented and

the results shared widely to enhance expansion activities in year two.

During FY 2008, the program will contribute to key targets highlighted in the National HIV and AIDS and STI

Strategic Plan (2007-2011), which includes the need to promote healthy lifestyles.

The project will address the 2-7-10 PEPFAR goals by increasing the number of individuals reached through

community outreach strategies that promote a balanced strategy centered on messages of abstinence and

being faithful among out-of-school youth.

SUMMARY:

This section of prevention is focused on strengthening community-based approaches to deliver balanced

AB and C interventions for out-of-school youth in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga Provinces.

Specifically, the Population Council (PC), the Eastern Cape Provincial Council of Churches and the

Mpumalanga Provincial Council of Churches will pilot and scale-up a community-based prevention program

geared mainly for out-of-school youth in two provinces of Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga in South Africa.

These organizations have a wealth of experience in youth interventions, and have conducted relevant

activities in this area in South Africa. The proposed program will contribute to key targets highlighted in the

National Department of Health's Strategic Plan (2006/7-2008), which include the need to promote healthy

lifestyles. The program should be highlighted for its intended contribution toward strengthening social

mobilization and community involvement in prevention initiatives for out-of-school and vulnerable youth in

particular. Emphasis areas include gender, human capacity development, and strategic information. Groups

such as adults, people living with HIV and AIDS, out-of-school-youth, pregnant teenagers, and religious

leaders will be targeted through community outreach programs.

BACKGROUND:

Based on their comprehensive and complementary experience working with young people, during FY 2008

the Population Council, the Eastern Cape Provincial Council of Churches and the Mpumalanga Provincial

Council of Churches intend to design, implement and evaluate HIV prevention activities among out-of-

school and other vulnerable youth who are not well reached by programs in largely rural and peri-urban

areas in the EC and Mpumalanga. The program will deliver tailored Other Prevention interventions and

messages to reach youth based on their age, sex and needs. It will work through youth clubs, churches and

community groups. The program will draw extensively from the work of two partners in South Africa that

formerly collaborated with the Population Council/Horizons Project and in Zambia where PC/Horizons

worked with hundreds of out-of-school youth to implement a three-year program, which trained young

people to provide care and support for people living with AIDS and OVC and to engage in prevention

activities. As mentioned, the FY 2008 program will strengthen social mobilization and community capacity

and involvement to participate in prevention initiatives for out-of-school and other vulnerable youth.

This section contains a strong dimension of strategic information so that processes and progress are

systematically documented at all stages. Monitoring and evaluation activities will be based on collecting

routine data and evaluating key program outcomes. Routine data will be tracked on a monthly basis to

obtain program outputs such as the number, age and gender of the beneficiaries reached. The field support

staff will receive training on strategic information, and will be responsible for collecting the required

information.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

ACTIVITY 1: Pilot and Scale-up

For FY 2008, this program will initially be piloted in two rural communities in one district in the Eastern Cape

(Amathole) and also in a district in Mpumalanga (Nelspruit). The pilot will be refined within six months and

expanded to four additional communities in these districts by the latter six months of the year. In year two, a

second district will be identified in each of the two provinces (Mqanduli in the EC, Mpumalanga will be

determined) for further expansion and scale-up. This strategy will allow for a phased-out scale-up approach,

giving the partners the opportunity to develop and test relevant interventions, apply lessons and program

results in the new sites, while strengthening activities in pilot sites. It will also provide the opportunity for the

different communities and stakeholders to share best practices and lessons learned.

The program will reach at least 8,000 people with training, prevention and other services. The Other

Prevention component will include: messages to delay sexual debut, channeling youth interest to include

healthy activities such as sports, drama and other community activities; partner reduction, condom use for

youth at risk of HIV infection and promotion of counseling and testing.

ACTIVITY 2: Implementation and Assessment of Prevention Messages and Interventions through

Community Outreach

The focus of this activity is implementing and evaluating a relatively broad set of prevention outreach to the

out-of-school youth. While the clear focus is on HIV prevention, an underlying objective is encouraging the

out-of-school youth who have failed to complete school (e.g., due to pregnancy) to re-enroll and complete

their education. Youth will be encouraged to explore training opportunities that will assist them to participate

in income-generating activities within their communities. Peer educators, youth mentors, community leaders

and stakeholders will also be trained. Male participation will be enhanced through targeted initiatives such

as male forums that discuss gender norms and dynamics in the communities.

Other activities will include the promotion of correct and consistent use of condoms for sexually active

youth; promotion of secondary abstinence; channeling youth interest to include healthy activities such as

sports; drama and other community activities; messages and support around abstinence, being faithful

messages for youth with partners and partner reduction and including promoting access to counseling and

testing; and also messages on cross-generational and transactional sex; and finally, messages on gender

norms aimed at reducing violence and coercion.

All of these activities will be geared toward understanding current local prevention activities; defining the

prevention needs of out-of-school and other vulnerable youth; mobilizing stakeholders; designing and

testing interventions that focus on correct and consistent use of condoms for sexually active, at-risk youth.

The prevention strategies and interventions that are deemed feasible, acceptable and successful will be

assessed and documented and the results shared widely to enhance expansion activities in year two.

During FY 2008 the program will contribute to key targets highlighted in the National HIV and AIDS and STI

Strategic Plan (2007-2011), which includes the need to promote healthy lifestyles. The project will address

the 2-7-10 PEPFAR goals by increasing the number of individuals reached through community outreach

strategies that promote correct and consistent condom use for sexually active youth.