$1 million confirmed for behaviour change work in the Caribbean

03 October 2006

Funding of $1m has been confirmed by USAID for the Alliance’s behaviour change work in the Caribbean. USAID has been a key donor for the Alliance’s Caribbean programme since it started in 2003.

The allocation of $1m by USAID for the programme until June 2007 highlights the great progress made by the Alliance in refocusing its work after concerns were raised in late 2005 by USAID over the programme’s emphasis.

A new strategy focusing on behaviour change was agreed with USAID in December 2005 and since then there has been considerable success in identifying and accessing most at risk populations; designing and producing quality training modules and education materials; and developing links with clinical care co-ordinators and local community based organisations.

The refocused programme now concentrates on behaviour change work with men who have sex with men, people living with HIV, and sex workers in St Kitts and Nevis; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Antigua and Barduda; Trinidad and Tobago; and Barbados.

Programme activities include interpersonal peer training; information, education and communication; building support groups for people living with HIV; peer to peer condom distribution; promotion of appropriate service use uptake, and contributing to the quality of services that are user friendly for ‘most at risk populations’.

The programme has three goals for behaviour change. Through its success:

  • targeted populations will have a good knowledge of HIV and an accurate perception of their own risk of infection
  • individuals will have minimised their risk of being infected through risk reduction measures; and people who already know they are living with HIV will know how to prevent further transmission through effective prevention measures
  • targeted populations will also know how and where they should seek appropriate and available services to meet their needs.

Applying the Alliance’s model of building up local community-based organisations has been a great challenge in the region. This is partly due to the adverse legal framework of some of the countries which makes homosexuality and sex work illegal; and the limited experience of grass roots organisations in working with international funds. The Alliance continues to believe in the value of building the capacity of local organisations to respond to the epidemic.