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

quantitative data, which are then periodically analyzed as part of the
TASO Management Information System. Qualitative data periodically
are analyzed by staff to inform decision-making.
• Service access: There are plans to evaluate services with the goal of
increasing access and utilization, particularly regarding services
addressing gender-based violence.
Evaluation Results • Program reach:
- TASO centers provided services to 90,000 people in 2007.
- TASO centers provided counseling to 59,949 people (41,962
female and 17,987 male) in 2007.
- TASO center drama groups conducted 928 performances reaching
239,884 people (101,444 female and 138,440 male) in center
communities.
- Mini-TASOs provided counseling to 115,142 people (79,983 female
and 35,159 male).
- From the 88 TASO supported-communities, community volunteers
educated 370,458 people on HIV and AIDS (208,397 female and
162,061 male) and counseled 53,135 clients (20,748 female and
24,387 male).
Data collected indicate the following:
- Increasing numbers of new people are seeking services.
- More women than men are seeking services (65 percent female
and 35 percent male).
- More than 60 percent of TASO clients are in discordant.
partnerships, suggesting a need for greater emphasis on protecting
HIV-negative partners.
• Service access: This evaluation has not yet taken place.
Replication and
Scale-up Activities
• TASO is subgranting to mini-TASOs to provide TASO-like services in
different districts where TASO service centers are not available.
• By building the capacity of communities to handle HIV and AIDS
challenges through AIDS education and sensitization and training in
basic HIV and AIDS counseling skills, TASO broadens its impact
beyond services it can provide directly.
LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
Key Findings and
Lessons
• Involving men has improved progress in some activities, including
condom use, family planning, and PPTCT. Activities that have brought
the most benefits include couples counseling, PPTCT, work with
discordant couples and peer-to-peer education.
• Couples counseling is more effective than individual counseling for
addressing conflicts within a marriage.
• Sensitizing cultural leaders, religious leaders and communities to
address gender issues affecting the transmission of HIV creates more
impact than working with individuals.
• Addressing gender-based violence issues effectively requires a
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