Regional stigma training project

Stigma and discrimination have been identified as major obstacles in accessing HIV prevention, treatment and care services across sub-Saharan Africa.

The Alliance’s regional stigma training project aims to reduce stigma and discrimination to enhance the scaling up of and access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and impact mitigation activities across national borders in the region.

The project started in 2004 and by the end of 2006, at least 17,100 people had participated in anti-stigma activities carried out by the national stigma trainers.

“I began having problems with my family because of the people I was mixing with. My sisters started insulting me, even the one with whom I used to share everything. I missed being able to discuss difficult issues with someone. I felt betrayed by people I had felt close to. I was abandoned by my mother who was my friend.”

How does the regional stigma training project work?

The regional stigma training project is part of the Alliance’s Africa regional programme, and trains teams of trainers who can go on to provide anti-stigma training in the community.

The main resource used during the training courses is Understanding and challenging HIV stigma: toolkit for action, which contains over 100 participatory exercises that the trainers can then adapt to fit different target groups and contexts.

After the initial training, the national teams decide how to roll out the training in their communities. This is usually done by integrating the anti-stigma training into existing programmes – for example in training for counsellors or home-based care volunteers.

Trainers also carry out workshops for specific, often influential community groups – such as faith-based organisations or health care providers – who continue to work with the community to reduce stigma and discrimination.

The project provides ongoing support and follow up to the trainers and lessons are shared. And there are also plans to train trainers on how to develop and use indicators to measure stigma reduction. This has already been done in Uganda.

Highlights of achievements and next steps

  • Where possible, trainers are invited to co-facilitate training in a different country – to build their training capacity and to experience the planning needed for a national level workshop. Mentoring also allows trainers to practice skills, to help build a regional team and to share lessons across countries.
  • The toolkit Understanding and challenging HIV stigma: toolkit for action has been revised and will include three new modules – on stigma and treatment, on stigma and home-based care, and on stigma and men who have sex with men. The completed toolkit should be available by mid-2007.
  • Partnerships with networks and international NGOs have provided new opportunities for training trainers, and it is hoped this will lead to further mainstreaming of stigma into other training courses.
  • In 2006, the project increased its coverage in West Africa, through Alliance linking organisations and country offices in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria. The project also inspires and strengthens other programmes in West Africa through the Alliance Africa Regional Programme’s learning, sharing and transferring strategy.

During 2007 training of trainers will take place in Senegal, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, in conjunction with trainers from the West Africa workshop. There will also be training in Zimbabwe and Malawi with the Alliance’s regional youth project and new tools will be developed with children and young people. New training will take place in Madagscar and North Africa, and training and follow up meetings will include further training on monitoring and evaluation.