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

SOUL CITY INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNICATION PROJECT
LEAD ORGANIZATIONS:
COUNTRY:
HIV PROGRAM AREA:
Soul City Institute
South Africa
Prevention
OVERVIEW:
The Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication (Soul City IHDC) project aims to
improve the health status of South Africans, including through the reduction of HIV, by promoting
social change through mass media, social mobilization and advocacy. Soul City IHDC is a 16-yearold
South African–based regional health and development communication project that implements the
following activities: 1) Soul City, which promotes health and social change among adults through
television, radio and print; 2) Soul Buddyz, a similar intervention that targets children ages 8 to 12,
their teachers and their caregivers; and 3) advocacy campaigns to promote social change and
influence legislation. It also recently has launched the “OneLove” campaign to discourage the norm of
multiple concurrent partnerships. Evaluation results show that the various programs have led to shifts
in knowledge, attitudes, social norms, and sexual behaviors, and that exposure to Soul City and Soul
Buddyz has changed self-perception of risk among youth and adults and helped them resist peer
pressure. Lessons learned include the importance of obtaining community buy-in and of collaborating
closely with the government, and the need to be careful not to undermine men when using public
messaging.
BACKGROUND
HIV & AIDS
Program Goals
The Soul City IHDC project aims to improve the health status of South
Africans by promoting social change through mass media, social
mobilization and advocacy, and to contribute to reductions in HIV incidence
in line with national goals over a five-year period.
Gender Strategies
Addressed
Reducing violence and coercion
Addressing male norms and behaviors
Increasing women’s legal protection
Increasing women’s access to income and productive resources
Other:
Description of
Intervention
Soul City IHDC aims to establish and maintain effective and efficient
program management capacity to undertake quality health and
development communication; build institutional and human capacity to
undertake quality health and development communication; and scale up
mass media communication and social mobilization programs and activities
across the region to reach 35 million people during the current five-year
timeframe. Activities include:
Soul City: Aimed at adults (over 16 years), this multimedia “edutainment”
vehicle includes television drama, radio drama and print to promote health
and social change. Since its inception, Soul City has addressed aspects of
HIV and AIDS in each series. Series 4, broadcast during 1999, dealt with
HIV and AIDS, gender-based violence, and personal finance. A female
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