Linking anti-stigma training to national policy work
26 August 2008
A workshop for trainers on stigma and discrimination jointly organised by Alliance Côte d’Ivoire and Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministère de la Lutte contre la Sida (Ministry for the fight against AIDS) saw the Alliance’s Africa Regional Stigma Training Team work with trainers to explore stigma and its impact. At the end of the workshop, trainers committed to integrate anti-stigma activities into the ministry’s action plan and a core team was formed to ensure the development of anti-stigma tools for Côte d’Ivoire and the implementation of the national strategy.
The anti-stigma workshop was participatory and practical and participants tried out a range of exercises and stigma tools, learning to adapt and facilitate them to fit different contexts. Participants came from the ministry for health and public hygiene; RIP+, the national network of people living with HIV; ARSAP, the religious leaders’ network; the national programme for orphans and vulnerable children, along with the two co-organisers. The key resource used was the manual Understanding and challenging HIV stigma: toolkit for action.
An exercise exploring the link between language and stigma proved particularly powerful. Participants reflected on the name-calling and labelling that marginalised groups face. One participant reflected, “These words come from all of us. In 20 minutes, we have produced these long lists of words. We have used them; we are part of this. Change starts with us – we still have a long way to go.”
Other topics explored in the workshop included:
- stigma faced by children
- stigma as a barrier to accessing health facilities – especially among men who have sex with men
- the role of religion and stigma
- stigma and treatment
- stigma within families
- stigma and disclosure.
Côte d’Ivoire’s national HIV and AIDS strategic plan includes a stigma and discrimination component and a strategy to develop and adapt anti-stigma tools to fit the country context. During the workshop’s action-planning session, trainers committed to integrate their planned anti-stigma activities into the Ministry’s action plan, which includes working with communities, health-care workers, orphans and vulnerable children and the business sector. A core team was formed to ensure the implementation of the national strategy and the development of anti-stigma tools for the country.
The training was also timely for RIP+, the national network of people living with HIV, which has received funding to roll out anti-stigma training as part of their programme to build the capacity of support groups of people living with HIV.
The Stigma Training Team is based in Alliance Zambia and is part of the Alliance’s Africa Regional Programme.
