a sourcebook of hiv/aids prevention programs volume 2

The Primary School AIDS Prevention Program, Kenya 149Sustaining Political SupportEffective HIV prevention demands long-term, sustained activities and support.Gaining and maintaining the support needed for activities to occur isoften difficult, because different stakeholders place different emphasis onwhat programs should do. Without strong and broad-based support, programsare likely to be unsustainable and unstable.To ensure broad acceptability of the findings and increased chances ofscale up, it is very important to involve as many stakeholders as possible inprogram design. Key stakeholders in the Kenyan government wereinvolved in the project from its inception, through high-level annual meetingsat which progress and results were discussed. The showcasing of theresults of the program in the 2007 World Development Report: Developmentand the Next Generation, as well as articles on the program in the popularpress, will make international stakeholders and policy makers aware of theprogram’s achievement.ConclusionKenya’s primary-school HIV prevention program is a remarkable exampleof the ways in which a small number of well-designed and simple schoolbasedinterventions can have a measurable impact on factors that lead tothe transmission of HIV. Documentation of the efficacy of three of theprogram’s components—debating and essay writing, sugar-daddy talk, andprovision of free school uniforms—increases their long-term sustainabilityas well as the likelihood that they will be scaled up across Kenya.Annex 7.1Primary School AIDS Prevention Attainment of Impact BenchmarksBENCHMARKATTAINMENT/COMMENT1. Identifies and focuses on specific sexual health goals Focused on reducing HIV and other STIs and decreasingpregnancies among young women.2. Focuses narrowly on specific behaviors that lead to Debating and essay writing: Allowed students to identifysexual health goalsspecific behaviors that can help them avoid HIV infection.Sugar-daddy talk: Discouraged cross-generational sex,which decreases risk of HIV infection among young people.Free school uniforms: Discouraged students from leavingprimary school, which helps prevent early pregnancies.(Continues on the following page)(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank