This activity is a continued partnership between the USG and the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR) to strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention programs for refugees residing in Zambia. UNHCR

and its implementing partners began strengthening HIV/AIDS programs for refugees in Zambia in 2003.

HIV/AIDS prevention and education campaigns conducted by host country governments often need to be

adapted to refugees, who speak different languages and have different cultural backgrounds. Many

refugees have suffered trauma and violence, including sexual violence, during conflict and flight which

destroys traditional community support structure and renders them vulnerable. Therefore, comprehensive

HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs need to be tailored to this unique, high-risk population.

A consultant has been hired to serve as UNHCR's Monitoring & Evaluation Program Officer for all PEPFAR

programs. In FY 2006, this position was supported by a Peace Corps Volunteer. The consultant assists all

implementing partners to collect monthly data about their HIV/AIDS activities and monitor their progress

towards reaching their targets.

Quarterly meetings are held in Lusaka between implementing partners to allow for exchange of experience

and new ideas.

In FY 2008, UNHCR will coordinate HIV/AIDS abstinence and be faithful activities with two implementing

partners: 1) Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) in Northwestern and

Western provinces at Meheba and Mayukwayukwa camps; and 2) Hodi in Luapula and Northern provinces

at Kala and Mwange camps. Meheba and Mayukwayukwa camps host 20,000 refugees from Angola,

Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Kala and Mwange camps host 40,000

Congolese refugees. The MCDSS partnered with UNHCR for the first time in FY 2007. With MCDSS as a

sub-partner for PEPFAR this will enhance continued long term sustainability.

In Meheba and Mayukwayukwa camps activities will focus on enabling both refugees and the surrounding

community population to work and interact with all young people by supporting youth activities such as Anti-

AIDS Clubs in schools and holding sports camps. Within the schools, support will be provided to the Anti-

AIDS clubs through the purchase of stationary and the provision of small prizes for various competitions that

include poetry and essay writing and art contests on AIDS specific themes. Additionally, the many existing

sporting clubs and leagues will be supported by providing equipment and supplies for activities that

incorporate a focus on HIV prevention. These sporting events provide a medium to enhance leadership and

teamwork skills and build self-esteem among young people. These skills often lead youth to make healthy

choices and reduce their chances of contracting HIV.

A Youth Sports Camp, an activity that has been successful in the past at integrating refugees and the

surrounding community as well as providing an opportunity to promote HIV/AIDS awareness messages to a

broader public, will be organized. The camp will be facilitated by the Youth Activities Organization, a local

NGO, and it is expected that 100 youth will take part in sports activities that include coaching and teaching

football, volleyball, and netball. One element of the program includes holding public matches in which

hundreds of adults watch and receive HIV/AIDS awareness messages through drama and other

performances during the breaks.

Life Skills Training to school age youth through a three part series of 3-day workshops will also be

conducted. These trainings are aimed at prominent school age youth and youth opinion leaders that can

positively influence their peers to make healthy decisions when confronting and addressing matters of

HIV/AIDS. Topics covered in the training include the nature and causes of HIV/AIDS, positive living with

HIV/AIDS, addressing stigma, relationship skills, goal setting and future planning, problem solving, decision

making and communication skills. Between the two camps, 100 school age youth will participate in the

training and these youth will reach 3,600 school age youth in a year with HIV/AIDS abstinence and be

faithful messages.

Traditional village communication methods, such as drama troupes, will be employed to travel to

communities in order to reinforce HIV/AIDS prevention messages and behavior change. This project will

allow for the training of such troupes and the purchase of drums, megaphones and costume material to

support this important cultural method of communication.

Activities will also continue in Kala and Mwange camps in FY 2008. IEC material that has been developed

in FY 2007 and translated into multiple languages to reach refugees from many different language

backgrounds (French, Swahili, and other Congolese local languages) will be reproduced for both camps.

These materials will spark discussion among youth and lead them to access the HIV/AIDS prevention

services that are available in the camps. Refugee camps also have unique opportunities to reaching many

refugees at one time with prevention messages, such as during bi-weekly food distribution.

In addition, 100 school age youth will be trained in assertiveness and decision making using the Stepping

Stones approach. Stepping Stones is an innovative training program which has already been introduced in

the refugee camps. The training draws on a range of participatory approaches including Participatory Rural

Appraisal (PRA), Theatre for Development (TfD) and peer group process work. A detailed training manual,

designed specifically for less experienced facilitators, provides a comprehensive sequence of participatory

activities. The manual is complemented by a video, consisting of a number of short clips to be used with

specific sessions. Between the two camps, 100 school age youth will participate in the training who in turn

will reach 3,600 school age youth in a year with HIV/AIDS abstinence and be faithful messages.

By strengthening the existing activities, programs will extend outside the camps anti-AIDS activities to the

neighboring Zambian villages and communities, including anti-AIDS and sporting events. It is anticipated

that 7,200 people will be reached with HIV/AIDS prevention programs that promote abstinence and/or being

faithful and 200 people will be trained to provide these programs. Until refugees are resettled, the refugee

camps involvement in the design, implementation, and monitoring of the program will help to ensure

ownership of the program. Building the necessary HIV prevention skills in the youth and general population

is particularly important in the refugee population, as these skills are transferable when refugees return to

their countries of origin.

This activity is a continued partnership between the USG and the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR) to strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention programs for refugees residing in Zambia. UNHCR

and its implementing partners began strengthening HIV/AIDS programs for refugees in Zambia in 2003.

HIV/AIDS prevention and education campaigns conducted by host country governments often need to be

adapted to refugees, who speak different languages and have different cultural backgrounds. Many

refugees have suffered trauma and violence, including sexual violence, during conflict and flight which

destroys traditional community support structure and renders them vulnerable. Therefore, comprehensive

HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs need to be tailored to this unique, high-risk population.

Through a new partnership established between UNHCR/Geneva and Peace Corps/Zambia in FY 2006, a

Peace Corps Volunteer (supported by PEPFAR) will continue to serve as UNHCR's program officer for all

PEPFAR programs. In FY 2007, this position will continue to be filled by a Peace Corps Volunteer. The

volunteer assists all implementing partners to collect monthly data about their HIV/AIDS activities and

monitor their progress towards reaching their targets. Quarterly meetings are held in Lusaka between

implementing partners to allow for exchange of experience and new ideas.

In FY 2006, UNHCR will implement activities to reach 50,000 people with messages about HIV prevention

through other behavior change beyond abstinence and/or being faithful. Additionally, it is anticipated that

more than 50 people will be trained to promote other behavior change beyond abstinence and/or being

faithful. Finally, 70 condom outlets will be supported. Funding for FY 2006 is anticipated to arrive in

September and activities will start immediately.

In FY 2007, UNHCR will continue to work to promote HIV/AIDS prevention behavior change that is beyond

abstinence and /or being faithful. UNHCR works with HIV/AIDS Interagency Task Forces that have been

established at each camp and are comprised of members from UNHCR, refugee leaders and camp

administration. UNHCR also works with district and national HIV/AIDS programs to ensure they are

operating under guidelines established for Zambia.

In FY 2007, HIV/AIDS training and community mobilization will continue in Meheba and Mayukwayukwa

camps that began in FY 2006. These camps host 20,000 refugees from Angola, Burundi, Rwanda and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Peer education training activities will be conducted to encourage

safer sexual practices through abstinence, being faithful, and correct and consistent use of condoms and

teach peers how to hold discussions with their peers and advocate these behaviors. Prevention messages

for sexually active youth and adults will focus on being faithful and using condoms consistently and correctly

while abstinence messages will be the focus for youth. Drama troupes that were trained in FY 2006 will

participate in training revisions to reinforce the messages of behavior change that were presented and

enhance their communication skills. In addition, key community leaders will be trained to promote

appropriate messages; information, education, and communication (IEC) materials will be developed; and

drama, debate and awareness sessions will be conducted.

In an effort to improve the capacity of refugee communities to mitigate HIV/AIDS in their communities and

ensure sustainability of activities, support will be provided to community groups and other relevant

stakeholders within the camp, in developing effective community responses to HIV/AIDS. These groups will

be assisted with training in HIV/AIDS information, prevention, care, support, fundraising and community

outreach. This will ensure that refugee communities will be more capable of developing effective responses

to combat HIV/AIDS. Awareness programs will also include a call for communities to show compassion and

support to people living with AIDS through community response.

Work will continue in Kala (Luapula province) and Mwange (Northern province) camps, where 40,000

Congolese refugees have been displaced due to continuing conflict and tensions in the DRC. Community

services in both northern camps are proposed. IEC material that has been developed in FY 2006 and

tailored to the target audience and translated into multiple languages to reach refugees from many different

language backgrounds, including French, Swahili, Portuguese, and other Congolese, Angolan, Burundian,

and Rwandan local languages will be available.

Due to the sensitivities involved in condom distribution, it is expected that condoms will be made available in

culturally appropriate outlets that include the clinic in each camp, counseling centers, toilet facilities and

individual distribution through key community relations personnel.

It is anticipated that 12,500 individuals will be reached with community outreach HIV/AIDS prevention

programs that are not focused on abstinence and/or being faithful and 70 individuals will be trained to

provide HIV/AIDS prevention programs that are not focused on abstinence and/or being faithful.

In order to combat sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education

especially for refugee women and girls will be one of the core prevention strategies applied. Work will also

continue to sensitize community groups to make them aware of SGBV and offer psycho-social support to

survivors of violence. SGBV are important components of all activities that occur in the camps. Difficult

social and economic conditions in refugee camps often compel women to exchange sex for money, gifts

and other favors. The camps also have an elite group of actively mobile people who are exposed to risks of

getting HIV infection as they frequent border areas like Nakonde which has a very high HIV infection rate.

Adolescent girls in schools and women in various social groups will be especially targeted. These programs

work in collaboration with the Zambian police force that enforces refugee protection in the camps.

Stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS will be incorporated into all training and outreach

messages through discussions and role plays. Messages combating stigma are crucial for refugees, as they

have experienced discrimination during their flight. Poor living conditions for PLWHA, tuberculosis, chronic

malaria and other HIV related infections contribute to the vulnerability of refugees.

This activity is a continued partnership between the USG and the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR) to strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention programs for refugees residing in Zambia. UNHCR

and its implementing partners began strengthening HIV/AIDS programs for refugees in Zambia in 2003.

HIV/AIDS prevention and education campaigns conducted by host country governments often need to be

adapted to refugees, who speak different languages and have different cultural backgrounds. Many

refugees have suffered trauma and violence, including sexual violence, during conflict and flight which

destroys traditional community support structure and renders them vulnerable. Therefore, comprehensive

HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs need to be tailored to this unique, high-risk population.

There are currently approximately 40,000 Congolese refugees residing in Kala and Mwange camps.

HIV/AIDS Interagency Task Forces have been established in the camps and are comprised of members

from UNHCR, implementing partners, refugee leaders and camp administration. The implementing partners

also work with district and national HIV/AIDS programs to ensure they are operating under guidelines

established for Zambia.

A consultant has been hired to serve as UNHCR's Monitoring & Evaluation Program Officer for all PEPFAR

programs. In FY 2006, this position was supported by a Peace Corps Volunteer. The consultant assists all

implementing partners to collect monthly data about their HIV/AIDS activities and monitor their progress

towards reaching their targets. Quarterly meetings are held in Lusaka between implementing partners to

allow for exchange of experience and new ideas.

PEPFAR funding in FY 2007 has been received and activities will start in October 2007. With this funding,

UNCHR will work through one of its implementing partners, Aktion Afrika Hilfe, (AAH) to establish a

confidential testing room within the clinic at Kala camp in Luapula Province, train 30 people in government

certified counseling and testing (CT) programs, and test 400 people for HIV. In FY 2008, AAH will continue

to expand on these services and reach more people.

In FY 2008, UNHCR will work with another implementing partner, the Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS) at

Mwange camp in Northern Province to coordinate CT activities. Uptake of CT is very low and there is little

knowledge among refugees about the services at Mwange camp. As a subpartner to UNHCR in FY 2008,

ZRCS is the only organization providing health services for the over 20,000 refugees in Mwange Camp. All

sectors are strictly managed within the humanitarian and project standards of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who closely monitor the level of service delivery for refugees and

ZRCS.

This activity builds on established comprehensive HIV/AIDS services at Mwange camp. These services

include: 1) planning, monitoring and promoting VCT through the VCT center; 2) monitoring and supervising

information, education, and communications (IEC) program through peer education; 3) promoting condom

distribution; 4) promoting Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV infection; and, 5)

planning and encouraging community participation through the HIV/AIDS task force. CT staff will participate

in skill enhancing training. This training will target 15 counselors who have previously successfully

completed government certified CT training programs and aims to building on skills already learned.

Counselors will learn higher level counseling techniques that will enable them to be better equipped to

provide client centered one-on-one HIV test counseling.

As the refugee camp facilities do not currently receive laboratory supplies from the national distribution

system, in FY 2008, laboratory supplies and equipment essential for CT services will be procured for one

site at each camp. The supplies include test kits, needles, syringes and gloves. The camp will offer

services to the surrounding Zambian community in addition to serving the refugee population.

Large-scale sensitization programs will continue to be undertaken in the camps to ensure that all refugees

are aware of the CT services available and the advantages to knowing one's status for HIV. The demand

for CT services is expected to increase rapidly from the current rate following these communication

campaigns. The current program aims to provide CT services for 2,300 people in both camps.

Thirty (30) people who were trained with FY 2007 PEPFAR funds as VCT HIV/AIDS counselors in Kala

camp will participate in skill enhancing training to maintain and update their skills and knowledge. In

addition, 15 new counselors will be trained in Mwange camp in FY 2008, building capacity and sustainability

that can be used after return to their country of origin.

UNHCR has established a referral system for HIV care and treatment in both camps for those who require

further access to HIV/AIDS care and support outside of the provisions that are available in the camps. This

system ensures the refugees and host community beneficiaries are able to access more comprehensive

services in nearby towns where services for STI treatment, psycho-social counseling, and nutrition services

are available. In FY 2008, the camps will continue to build a broader network among the organizations

providing these services in nearby towns and a training session will be held for all camp staff to become

aware of the referral services that are available for refugees.