HIV/AIDS Programs

Save the Children is responding to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, Asia, and Eurasia and the Caribbean. Save the Children partners with communities to mobilize the resources necessary to tackle HIV/AIDS and support children and families in need. These partnerships focus on two primary goals: raising awareness about ways to prevent new infection and adopt healthy practices and providing care and support for children and families affected by the pandemic.

To read about our work in a particular country, click on the corresponding link below.

Africa
Ethiopia
Malawi
Mozambique
Uganda
Sudan
Carribean
Haiti

Asia
Bangladesh
Myanmar
Philippines
Vietnam
Eurasia
Georgia
Global

Africa

Ethiopia

HIV drama club members, 15-year-old Darmi Girole, 17-year-old kabale Kalicha and 15-year-old darmi Huka await to perform their play for local school children in Ethiopia.

Positive Change: Children, Communities, and Care (PC3)
Save the Children, in partnership with CARE, Family Health International, World Learning, and World Vision, launched the Positive Change program, designed to reach 500,000 children affected by HIV/AIDS over five years. Positive Change strengthens program interventions focused on improving the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) and their households, through psychosocial support, health and nutrition, livelihood, life skills, and educational programming. Through intensive capacity strengthening of local organizations, Save the Children works to increase the availability, quality and consistency of community-based care and services for OVC and HIV/AIDS-affected families.

High Risk Corridor Initiative (HRCI)
Initiated as a prevention program to address the high transmission rates of HIV among transport workers and commercial sex workers along Ethiopia’s high risk corridors, the HRCI program has expanded to link prevention efforts with strategies for care and support for persons living with AIDS, and to broaden its prevention program to new target audiences, especially high-risk youth. The HRCI program incorporates an innovative package of prevention and care and support services, including HIV/AIDS information centers, peer education activities, school and community-based prevention outreach for young people, voluntary counseling and testing service strengthening, and community home-based care for persons living with HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program
As a partner in the recently commenced MSH-led HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program (HCSP), Save the Children is supporting the provision of comprehensive HIV/AIDS services in Ethiopia on the community level. Save the Children works with communities to develop family-centered and community-led multisectoral activities to enable greater access to care, treatment and support at all levels of care, from the home to health facilities and other support services. Over 6,000 Kebele (local neighborhood level) workers will be trained to provide, in liaison with NGOs and community-based organizations, home based care and support for sick children and adults, HIV prevention messages on the household and community level, and treatment adherence support in the home.

Malawi

Save the Children HIV counselor Saimon Chayenda advises community members using Save the Children

TISAMALIRANE Program
Previously known as COPE and then STEPS (Scaling-Up through Expanded Partnerships), Save the Children’s innovative TISAMALIRANE program in Malawi has effectively mobilized local communities to develop sustainable and comprehensive community-based interventions for the prevention, care and mitigation of HIV/AIDS. Working directly with district and village leaders to develop and manage programs that help hundreds of communities and thousands of families, TISAMALIRANE addresses the nutritional, emotional, educational and livelihood needs of children and families affected by the epidemic. Demonstrating its potential for effective implementation at scale, Save the Children is currently supporting the government’s efforts to roll out the national early childhood development (ECD) training curriculum for caregivers while piloting approaches that complement the training and delivery of quality ECD in community-based childcare centers.

BRIDGE

Through the BRIDGE program, Save the Children targets youth with Behavior Change Communication (BCC) activities, aiming to increase skills and dialog on HIV/AIDS among youth and children. Through a range of innovative, interactive methodologies, the program seeks to give beneficiaries an understanding of personal risk while building a sense of hope and self-efficacy. As Save the Children continues to build strong partnerships, local NGOs are beginning to replicate the BCC tools developed through BRIDGE, contributing to a scaling up on the district and national level.

I-LIFE
I-LIFE, Improving Livelihoods through Increased Food Security, targets vulnerable households by integrating market-oriented agricultural production with health, HIV/AIDS, and nutrition. Through a consortium of seven NGOs, Save the Children is taking the lead on capacity building of the partners on HIV/AIDS mainstreaming and implementation of all prevention, care and support activities for households caring for the chronically ill and OVC. Through training and provision of on-site technical support, Save the Children works to promote and maintain quality in all aspects of HIV/AIDS programming while ensuring that best practices are documented, shared and scaled up across the Consortium.

Mozambique

Youth Prevention
Focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention for youth, Save the Children supports youth led activities to promote behavior change among peers, including dramas, songs, dances, film, and the distribution of T-shirts and posters with HIV prevention messages. Save the Children has recently begun implementing new youth activities that focus on increasing access to sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents in health centers and in communities; improving the quality of sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents; improving knowledge, attitudes and skills in relation to their sexual health; and creating a favorable environment to ensure acceptance of and supportive actions for adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Save the Children nurse, Alda Dava gives an oral vaccination to a 2-month old baby boy named Milton. His mother is HIV positive and both her and her baby took Nevimune to prevent mother to child transmission. Michael Bisceglie.

Scale Up Hope
Save the Children Alliance members, in collaboration with the Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI), foster networks and partnerships for the provision of comprehensive care and support services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), people living with HIV/AIDS, and their households. The program takes Save the Children’s community-based care and support response to significantly greater scale, reaching up to 35,000 vulnerable children in 21 districts throughout Mozambique. Save the Children strengthens the organizational capacity of local partners while fostering linkages from the community level to the national level and optimizing and ensuring the impact of resources.

Early Childhood Development for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS

With support from American Idol, Save the Children provides quality care for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Reaching 42 communities throughout the Gaza District, this program helps orphans and vulnerable children transition successfully into primary school. Utilizing local arts and culture as a foundation, Save the Children trains facilitators and community members to improve the quality of early stimulation, psychosocial support, and pre-literacy and numeracy instruction. In order to enhance the learning environment in community-based childcare centers, Save the Children provides playgrounds, learning materials, and integrated health services to children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Uganda

Capacity to Care
Through the Capacity to Care (C2C) program, Save the Children strives to improve the well-being of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) in twelve districts throughout Central Uganda. Save the Children is working to build district-level capacity to plan, monitor, supervise and evaluate OVC service provision. The C2C program increases coordination at the district level to enhance access and quality of comprehensive service provision for vulnerable children and their households; increases knowledge and utilization of national OVC guidelines, strategies and principles; and fosters an enabling environment that supports the survival, protection, development and participation of OVC and their households.

Breaking Barriers
Breaking Barriers is a community based OVC program targeting hard-to-reach and severely disadvantaged children in central Uganda. Building on Save the Children’s extensive experience in community mobilization, the program provides innovative education, psychosocial support, and home-based care services to disadvantaged children. The program reaches over 6,000 children with activities that promote physical, cognitive and emotional well-being. In an effort to build a sustainable foundation, Save the Children partners with communities to construct schools while building the capacity of teachers and School Management Committees.

Sudan

South Sudan HIV/AIDS Impact Reduction Program (SSHIP)
Save the Children US, in partnership with three local NGOS, works to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals and communities in Southern Sudan. Through the development of volunteer counselling and testing, the training of condom distributors, and the provision of peer-led HIV education the SSHIP Program has effectively increased access to and demand for quality HIV care and treatment services. In efforts to promote the sustainability of quality care and support services, Save the Children US is strengthening the capacity of Country Health Department, health facilitates and community partners.

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ASIA

Bangladesh

Prevention of HIV/AIDS among Young People

Through a partnership with the Government of Bangladesh and funding from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFTAM), Save the Children, as a managing agency, works through a wide range of implementing partners to prevent HIV infection among young people (ages 10-24).Working on a national scale, Save the Children and its partners have effectively reached 38 million youth in Bangladesh with HIV prevention messages, utilizing innovative approaches such as TV drama series, talk shows, and traditional folk shows. The program is also integrating HIV prevention education into secondary schools and higher secondary curriculum. Other activities to increase HIV prevention and enhance care and support services for youth include life skills education training, the development of youth friendly facility-based health services, and the provision of a social marketing program for condoms targeted to young people. In addition, Save the Children works to develop an enabling and supportive environment through advocacy and sensitization programs involving religious and community leaders, parents, and policy makers.

HIV Prevention and Control among High Risk Populations and Vulnerable Young People

Save the Children, in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh and implementing partners, is targeting HIV prevention among those considered most at risk with an emphasis on vulnerable youth. Over the next five years this GFTAM project aims to provide harm reduction services for injecting drug users; care and support for the most affected communities (including female sex workers); information and life-skills support for garment-industry workers; and capacity building for implementing partners and government institutions. Save the Children will also scale-up existing advocacy and HIV awareness efforts, while advancing the development of national standards for Youth Friendly Health Services and the implementation of HIV education curricula.

Vietnam

Preventing HIV Transmission Among Young Men

As the risk of HIV infection increases among youth in Vietnam, Save the Children is working to develop a comprehensive HIV prevention program for young men between the ages of 15 and 24, particularly those in urban areas. Funded by PEPFAR through Pact, this project partners with young men and government agencies to reach 30,000 young men in street-based settings, vocational schools, colleges, and universities. Adapted from Brazil’s Program H model, the program utilizes peer education and interpersonal communication to improve young men's knowledge and skills while providing young men with the space to reflect on gender norms, make informed decisions, and practice healthy behaviors. Community gatekeepers are engaged to foster a supportive social environment in which young men can practice preventive behaviors and equitable gender norms.

Philippines

Adolescent-Defined Quality Reproductive Health Services

Building on adolescent-friendly health services, Save the Children is making extensive progress in HIV prevention by training health service providers in Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT).Through funding from Johnson & Johnson, Save the Children continues to strengthen and institutionalize the provision of VCT as an integral component of adolescent defined quality reproductive health services. Complementary HIV awareness and support is carried out through peer educators, reaching at-risk youth in schools, vocational centers, and health centers.

Myanmar

HIV Prevention Intervention for High Risk Groups

With funding from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations joint program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) this program seeks to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among high risk groups, with a special focus on youth. Save the Children is helping to reduce high risk behaviors of young people by providing peer counseling and education, increasing access to quality preventive services, and offering referrals for Voluntary Counseling & Testing (VCT). Community mobilization and experience-based advocacy strategies reinforce support for protective practices. Knowledge Centers staffed by counselors are another key aspect of the program and are linked with networks of peer educators and youth-friendly medical practitioners.

3D Fund Myanmar Consortium on HIV/AIDS

Save the Children is leading the Myanmar NGO Consortium on HIV/AIDS, a collaborative initiative consisting of CARE, Marie Stopes International, the Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Association, and Save the Children, designed to improve the continuum of HIV prevention, treatment and care in Myanmar. Programs are planned in 17 townships providing comprehensive care to those most affected by HIV/AIDS. Bringing its specialization in behavior change programs for high-risk youth and children affected by HIV/AIDS, Save the Children, in cooperation with the NGO Consortium, will continue to support and promote HIV initiatives for affected children, at-risk youth and their families.

Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission

In collaboration with the National AIDS Program of Myanmar (NAP), the Department of Health (DOH), and UNICEF, Save the Children launched a community-based program focused on the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). Through an integrated approach, this program incorporates services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission with essential reproductive health care, in an effort to reach more women who are, or may become pregnant, as well as new mothers. The program aims to strengthen access to information and care and support services in communities, raise awareness about HIV, and engage community members in overcoming barriers to the use of antenatal care (ANC) and HIV testing. Partner testing is critical to the success of the program, and therefore male involvement is highly encouraged. This program is designed to reinforce public sector services and build local capacity, ensuring that its efforts and activities will endure after the program has ended. As the model has gained national-level interest, Save the Children is working with other agencies to develop proposals

for taking this work to greater scale, benefiting larger numbers of women, their partners and families.

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The Caribbean

Haiti

Maissade Community Mobilization for Children & Families
With funding from UNICEF and private donors, Save the Children is mobilizing community-based preventive and care and support activities addressing the health, psychosocial and social needs of HIV/AIDS-affected children and families in Haiti's impoverished Central Plateau area of Maissade. Expanding on our current youth education and health programs in Maissade, this program helps communities to cope with HIV/AIDS, with the specific purpose of helping families affected by HIV/AIDS to remain together for as long as possible. One-third of Maissade's population is comprised of youth (aged 10-19); Save the Children aims to reach 80 percent of this group through school and community-based prevention and support initiatives.

Consortium for the Fight against HIV/AIDS

With funding from the Global Fund to Fight Tuberculosis, AIDS, and Malaria (GFTAM), Save the Children, in collaboration with four non-governmental organizations, is striving to improve the well being of Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) and People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). Establishing a comprehensive continuum of care in thirteen provinces throughout Haiti, this Consortium is increasing the availability of and access to prevention and care and support services as it continues to mobilize and strengthen communities.

SAFENET Plus

In partnership with World Vision, Save the Children aims to reduce the risk of infection among youth and other at risk populations while improving the well being and quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA). Save the Children provides target groups with a comprehensive package of medical and social services, including age specific prevention services, risk-reduction interventions, and care and support for families affected by HIV/AIDS (with a special focus on women and children).These care and support measures focus on strengthening community infrastructure and capacity to provide health services, with a special focus on youth-friendly services. Enhancing the sustainability of these prevention, protection, and care and support services, Save the Children continues to build and support the technical capacity of local civil society organizations.

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Eurasia

Georgia

STI/HIV Prevention Program

Save the Children works in the Republic of Georgia to reduce the rate of infection among high-risk individuals. Within the framework of the STI/HIV Prevention (SHIP) program, Save the Children has carried out wide-scale interventions to increase awareness of STI/HIV and decrease high risk behavior among target populations, including female sex workers, injecting drug users, and men having sex with men. In order to enhance coverage of these target groups, Save the Children works on both the community and national level, leading efforts to strengthen peer education interventions, expand outreach services, and develop information, educational, and communication materials.

Abkhazia STI/HIV Prevention Program

With funding from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Save the Children works to prevent the spread of HIV in the breakaway region of Abkhazia by establishing voluntary counseling and testing centers, providing training of trainers for healthcare providers, promoting condom use and supply, implementing behavior change and communication strategy, and supporting public awareness campaigns in Haiti.

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Global

HEART: Healing and Education through Art
Save the Children is using our well-respected children's education programs and our global expertise in child protection to launch HEART: Healing and Education through Art in varying contexts: Central America, the Middle East, Nepal, Malawi and Mozambique. Locally, the art interventions will include a variety of media — drawing, painting, drama, music, and dance — to strengthen the well being and resiliency of children. We will field test HEART in the West Bank and Gaza and Mozambique, where the situation for children continues to be dire and psychosocial programs are a strategic priority. HEART will then be refined and implemented in the other regions, and disseminated widely within the organization, the International Save the Children Alliance, and our local and international partners.

Kulimbikitsa Liu la Atsikana (Strengthening Girls’ Voices)
Strengthening Girls’ Voices is a girls’ empowerment project, which is integrated into existing USAID-funded food security programs (DAP) and is being implemented simultaneously in Bangladesh and Malawi. Girls aged 10-19, who are in school or out of school, unmarried or married, are targeted with a range of interventions with a special focus on education, economic opportunities, health, security, leadership, voice and rights. The project aims to build the evidence-base for effective livelihoods interventions for vulnerable youth through the piloting of Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools and youth savings groups, while other activities such as the setting up of Bright Future Committees for a safer school environment and the introduction of behavioral change communication represent a scaling up of interventions, the effectiveness of which has already been documented in other Save the Children programs.

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