Implementing Multiple Gender Strategies to Improve HIV and ... - ICRW

attending school, psychosocial and educational needs, benefiting from
school feeding schemes, living without fear of violence, and receiving care
and support from men. The model consists of five overlapping,
complementary components:
1. Formative research into the lives of men and children, including
children’s participatory needs assessments, men’s community surveys,
children’s photojournals; and further research into issues that arise
through project implementation.
2. Capacity building for and ongoing technical support to local NGOs to
ensure strengthened capacity and demonstrated commitment of men to
end violence against women and children, reduce the spread and
impact of HIV/AIDS, and promote care and support for orphans and
vulnerable children (OVC).
3. Engagement, training, and technical assistance to local stakeholders, in
particular, local government officials, religious and traditional leaders,
and local institutions responsible for meeting the needs of children
(e.g., schools and Child Care Forums), and embedding the project in
local processes and structures, to ensure sustainability.
4. Innovative use of arts and new media, such as photography and video
to engage and empower children and youth and raise awareness
among men and other community members about the realities of
children’s lives.
5. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of project progress, including
case studies, end of project consultative seminars at local, provincial
and national levels, and compilation of a step-by-step manual to
facilitate replication of the project model by other partners in other
locations.
The project works with men in a range of capacities—as fathers, family
members, neighbors, traditional leaders, teachers, municipal government
officials, NGO staff and volunteers, and others. These men are targeted
with messages about children and HIV using a range of methodologies.
These include building men’s capacity to be advocates and activists to
eliminate violence against women, to prevent the spread of HIV, and to
promote health, care and support for orphans and vulnerable children. It
also includes using innovative information, education and communication
(IEC) materials developed by children, such as the Photovoice Project, in
which photos that children take are used to create awareness of and
dialogue around issues of concern to them, including whether men are
involved in caring and supporting them. Other IEC materials include digital
stories, where children create short videos about personal life experiences
that are used to stimulate discussion in communities. Both the Photovoice
project and the digital stories involve leaders and parents in discussing and
making commitments to changing practices and policies that affect children.
The Sonke model is unique because it supports men to play a more active
role in the lives of their families, and also helps vulnerable children bring
the realities of their daily lives to the attention of the leaders in their
communities. Sonke also provides training and support to build the capacity
of community organizations and local government to ensure that Sonke’s
work continues in the long term.
Target Audience • Men and boys
• Adolescents
• Youth
• Adults
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