Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Details for Mechanism ID: 12285
Country/Region: Zambia
Year: 2010
Main Partner: American International Health Alliance
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: NGO
Funding Agency: USAID
Total Funding: $380,000

The AIHA Twinning Center supports the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through partnerships, initiatives, and volunteer placements that help build critical institutional and human resource capacity to combat HIV/AIDS. Through funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Zambia, the Twinning Center supports a twinning partnership between the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM) and the University of Kentucky (UK). The overall goal of the partnership between ZAMCOM and UK is to build the capacity of ZAMCOM to provide technical assistance and media support for organizations, particularly community radio stations across the country.

Partnership activities include conducting trainings and workshops with community radio stations based around the country to enhance the skills of these local stations to develop stories and provide quality media services. An explicit focus of this training will be on the development and airing of HIV prevention messages targeting local communities within the radio catchment area. Support to the local stations will include determination of what types of messages are most likely to resonate with the listeners in a particular area and promote behavior change.

Additional activities will pursue the idea of molding ZAMCOM into a one stop cooperative for media information and communications across the country, thereby increasing the potential for a sustainable future. Similar models have been used in Kentucky to allow for advertisers to use one clearing house to reach multiple smaller community radio stations. In this regard, UK will work with ZAMCOM based on the model in Kentucky and determine if a similar structure and strategy will work in the Zambian context. The benefit would be that content could be provided through ZAMCOM and then passed on to local community radio stations across the country for broadcasting. Similar activities and advertising infrastructure is envisioned through the development of community print media materials. Print media play an important role in urban areas in providing information to readers on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment.

The activities proposed in FY10 are an extension of previous work which has included cross visits between ZAMCOM and a similar analog in Botswana. Cross visits and further south-to-south support will be fostered leading to a well developed and identified organization in Zambia that can provide assistance in the area of communications both within the country and the region as a whole.

The geographic target area is nationwide (based on the location of community radio stations). Target populations include media houses and their listeners and readers throughout the country.

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Abstinence/Be Faithful (HVAB): $200,000

Activities in this area will focus on supporting the communications network to develop and broadcast HIV prevention messages across an array of community radio stations. Activities could include, but are not limited, to development of messages and their onward broadcasting throughout the ZAMCOM network of radio stations.

Within this area, messages will be focused on abstinence and fidelity, particularly targeting couples in union. Discordant couples will be one focus area to provide messages to avoid re-infection and infection across the partnership. These messages will be balanced and matched with those under the HVOP category as appropriate. Given the network of community radio stations across the country, the reach could be quite wide, with unique targeting in discrete areas for tailoring messages that are culturally appropriate within the geographic location. Messages and activities will target males and females equally, realizing that the form and content of the message may need to differ to reach each target group.

Activities in this area will also link with other programs that target adolescent/youth HIV prevention activities, including work with community print media partners to develop a planned quarterly newsletter supplement targeted at school children.

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Other Sexual Prevention (HVOP): $180,000

Activities in this area will focus on supporting the communications network to develop and broadcast HIV prevention messages across an array of community radio stations. Activities could include, but are not limited to, development of messages and their onward broadcasting throughout the ZAMCOM network of radio stations. As per the activities under HVAB, targeting will be accomplished through the network of community radio stations building on the coverage and population aspects of their catchment areas.

Within this area messages will be focused on high risk sexual activity including multiple and concurrent partners, particularly outside of union. Activities in this area will also link with other programs that target adolescent/youth HIV prevention activities. This supplement will be distributed to schools and libraries along with lesson-plans for teachers in hopes that after learning this material in school, the children would also take it home and share with their families.

Key Issues Identified in Mechanism
Addressing male norms and behaviors
Increasing gender equity in HIV/AIDS activities and services