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World Learning Launches HIV Prevention Project in Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (July 23, 2009) -- World Learning is pleased to announce the launch of a three-year project entitled "HIV Prevention in Large Scale Construction Sites in Ethiopia," made possible through a $4.75 million grant from the President's Emergency Program for AIDS (PEPFAR) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Ethiopia is undergoing nation-wide economic development efforts that include large construction activities throughout the country. Many of the large-scale construction activities are taking place in rural and remote locations where HIV prevention and care efforts are often lacking. Working in collaboration with key government agencies, World Learning seeks to create workplace interventions and policies that will reduce high-risk behavior and HIV infection for workers and community members in five regions: Afar, Amhara, Tigray, Southern Nation, Nationalities and People's Regional State, and Diredawa City Administration.
The nature of construction work in Ethiopia, which requires both high mobility and long absences from families and home environments, increases the likelihood of high-risk behavior and HIV infection among construction workers. The socio-economic vulnerability and remote location of many construction sites further increase the likelihood of behaviors such as commercial and transactional sex, and fuel HIV transmission in the areas surrounding the sites. In order to reach these groups with effective HIV prevention interventions, World Learning is collaborating with the three governmental agencies managing these large-scale constructions: Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR), Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA), and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo). World Learning will also work with Astar Advertising, a private sector agency, to assess the health information needs of the key project constituents and develop an innovative behavior change communication (BCC) strategy. The Project aims to reach more than 33,000 construction workers, 2,900 commercial sex workers, and 200,000 surrounding community members from a total of 25 construction sites located throughout Ethiopia.
"The current national strategy has prioritized HIV prevention among Most at Risk Populations (MARPs)," said Dr. Abeba Bekele, Chief of Party of the HIV Prevention project. "This important project will contribute to the Government's effort to prevent HIV among these vulnerable populations by targeting migrant laborers, commercial and transactional sex workers, and high-risk community members at the various large-scale construction sites. We also hope for partner organizations and other stakeholders to use the lessons learned throughout the project to inform the design and implementation of similar endeavors in the country."
The HIV prevention project seeks to encourage care-seeking behaviors, especially HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) and treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and it will help strengthen referral networks in order to facilitate better access to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services.
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