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

advocacy for, monogamy and fidelity in marriage among their
peers.
• Increased numbers of women reported improved capacity to resist
traditions of widow inheritance upon the death of their husbands.
• Increased numbers of young men and women reported that they
tested for HIV and have sought treatment for STIs.
• Increased numbers of women reported that they actively advocated
for use of condoms and other means of safer sex.
• Households reported improved gardening practices, nutritional
habits, and methods of caring for people living with HIV.
• Households reported improved income levels, family livelihood
capacity, and general long-term economic and social standing, a
result of women’s linkage to microfinance institutions and marketing
outlets.
• Men and women reported improved knowledge of HIV counseling
and testing services as well as antiretroviral therapy availability.
• Women’s groups reported increased ability to influence national
debates toward greater inclusion and equality.
• Program evaluation: KAIPPG has 24 project sites spread across six
districts of Teso, Busia, Butere, Mumias, Kakamega, and Bungoma in
Western Kenya. The KAIPPG project reaches about 50,000 people
annually, either directly or indirectly. In 2007, 2,449 adults and 1,649
orphans and vulnerable children benefited from mitigation interventions,
while 26,300 people received education on gender-based HIV/AIDS
prevention.
Replication and
Scale-up Activities
The project has been replicated in six districts in Western Kenya.
LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
Key Findings and
Lessons
• Multiple approaches to gender programming reduce resistance to
change by those who feel threatened (men) when women are
empowered. Multiple approaches also make the project more appealing
to youth, who are generally more adaptive to change.
• Capacity-building for beneficiaries and volunteers is core to project
sustainability. This includes involving beneficiaries in all aspects and
stages of the project, training participants in project concepts, and
developing skills among community resource persons.
• Using culturally defined gender roles to design the project, and
gradually educating women on equality and their rights, helps the
project to have a stronger impact.
• Women’s projects become more sustainable with male involvement,
since men strongly influence the participation of women. Although this
project specifically aimed to improve the capacity and welfare of rural
women, KAIPPG included a small number of men during
implementation to guarantee maximum participation of women.
• Projects have longer-term impact when they have an economic
empowerment component. This lesson led KAIPPG to integrate a
number of income-generating activities alongside the HIV/AIDS project.
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