Turning the tide – changing the river’s flow

Working together with traditional authorities and local communities to address the link between culture, HIV and AIDS and Gender Based Violence emerged as the overall message from the Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Trust Summit held from 1-3 November in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The event attended by over 150 participants from Zimbabwe by local community members, chiefs, headmen, government officials, NGOs, CBOs, experts, academics and development partners gave voice to those most marginalised.

The Summit will provide a platform for participants to learn and share evidence on successful models, strategies and approaches for innovating and integrating HIV prevention, gender and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) interventions in southern African communities. Presentations will focus on the following key thematic areas:

• Engaging traditional leadership and custodians of culture to address the linkages between HIV, culture, women’s rights and gender-based violence.
• Improving monitoring and evaluation of HIV, gender and SRH interventions at community level.
• Addressing sexual harassment in diverse social settings.
• Scaling up prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.
• Engaging young people and adolescents, including young people living with HIV, in sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes and interventions.
• Implementing user-controlled HIV prevention technologies: possibilities in communities in southern Africa (for instance the use of cell phones in enhancing maternal and child health, and in monitoring and reporting gender-based violence).
• Mobilising communities to scale-up testing and treatment as a form of HIV prevention.
• Strengthening community capacities to engage with biomedical or social behavioural approaches for preventing HIV and gender-based violence.

The summit ended on a high note with the launch of three publications by the Netherlands Ambassador to Zimbabwe, The titles of the books launched are: Traditional leaders on the frontline – addressing harmful cultural practices to reduce gender based violence and HIV in Southern Africa; Turning the tide on gender based violence – Best Practices of Organisations Applying the ‘Changing the River’s Flow’ Model in Southern Africa and a Zimbabwe launch of the 2011 SADC Protocol on Gender and Development in partnership with the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance.