1. health and fitness
2. disease
3. aids and hiv

WEWS10
Negotiating Religious Barriers to
Mobilizing and Building Capacity of Key
populations (KP) for HIV Prevention in
Sub-Saharan Africa
Facilitator: Justus Aungo, PhD.
Co-Facilitators: Zebedee Mkala and Carlos Laudari
Pathfinder International
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SESSION 1:
INTRODUCTION
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
General information
Background to the Workshop
Objectives of the workshop
Method and scope of workshop
Key concepts in the workshop
Expectation from the workshop
Session Facilitator:
JB Aungo.
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Reality of HIV and KP in SSA
• High incidence of HIV and AIDS in SSA
• Widespread effect of HIV and AIDS in SSA
• Key drivers of HIV and AIDS in SSA
• Extreme poverty
• Extreme gender and rights inequalities
• Low health literacy and access
• Key Populations (KP): MSMS, SWs and
PWUD/PWID) are excluded, marginalized and
violated- at individual, social and structural level.
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General information
• The Organizers work for Pathfinder International (PI) in Kenya
• Pathfinder International is a global leader in reproductive Health
• Facilitators:
– Lead Facilitator: Justus Aungo, PhD- M&E /Gender and Rights
Technical Advisor, PI Kenya. A Sociologist and Anthropologist with over
ten years working in HIV Prevention among Key populations in Kenya.
– Co-Facilitator: Zebedee Mkalla, Senior Technical Advisor, Community
and outreach programs, PI Kenya
– Contributor: Carlos Laudari Senior Technical Advisor, HIV Prevention,
PI
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Background to the Workshop
• High incidence of HIV infection among KP in Kenya:
between 10- 33% above the national average
• Stigma against KP in national prevention intervention
• Overt and covert structural, social and individual barriers
to access and utilization of health services by KP
• Continued marginalization of KP participation in
interventions
• Increasing participation of conservative, neigh extreme
religious groups in reproductive health and HIV prevention
– Catholic opposition to condom promotion and use
– Christian and Muslim opposition to sex education
– Christian and Muslim opposition to constitutional recognition
of LGBT, sex work e.t.c.
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Findings from Studies
• In sub-Saharan Africa, male and transgender
sex workers (MTSW) are often engaged in sex
work for financial reasons and are at a high
risk of HIV Transmission.
• Criminalisation of homosexuality drives male
sex work underground, making it extremely
difficult for MTSWs to access HIV
prevention initiatives.
• In cases where programmes have
recognized KP needs, capacity to
participate is hindered.
See more at: Source: http://www.avert.org/sex-workers-andhivaids.htm#sthash.E0xBMvCM.dpuf
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Fact or Fiction:
Key populations groups often engage in behaviors that are (or may be
interpreted to be) at odds with traditional religious teachings
(Source: Bergmann and Saleh-Ramírez, 2011)
Religious groups use this as basis of avoiding,
shunning or targeting them for inclusion or
exclusion, depending on their motivationevangelizing or condemnation.
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Premise of the Workshop
• Religion is a complex socio-structural determinant of
health and health seeking behaviour;
• When combined, religious and cultural morality practices
can create unfriendly environments rife with stigma,
intolerance and violence against key population (KP)
groups, increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection.
• The Environment within which KP live determines their
access and utilization of health services and capacity to
prevent infection
• Access to health service is a right- it is about justice.
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Objectives of the Workshop
The Workshop aims to facilitate participants to:
• Increase their knowledge and skills necessary to address
religious and associated socio-cultural barriers to HIV
prevention facing key populations by:
• highlighting the challenges in the KP, religion, and HIV nexus.
• sharing experiences, lessons and innovations from Africa and
elsewhere.
– Increase awareness, knowledge and information on the range of
risks and vulnerabilities of KP;
– Enhance capacity to assess and identify contextual religiondriven social, cultural and political barriers to prevention among
KPs.
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Scope and Issues
• The workshop is at an intermediate level with
modest scope:
– Generate discussion on the ‘other side’ of religion in
context of HIV.
– Share the experience we have had in Kenya
– Takes a purely programmatic approach without getting
into issues of religious dogma, ideology or belief
systems;
– Focus is on the socio-structural level barriers to
prevention
– KP is used loosely as a composite term referring to
MSM, SW and PWUD/PWID
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Key Concepts
• Religious Barriers: A series of actions, practices and views based
on adherence or following of a belief system that do, can or may
behaviourally socially or/and structurally prevent or hinder
access and utilization of services by a particular population group
or category; especially those socially defined or identified.
• Key populations (also referred to as most-at-risk populations)
who are disproportionately infected or prone to infection with
HIV compared to the general population. The core key
populations are people who use/inject drugs (PWU/ID), gay men
and other men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender
persons and sex workers (SW).
• Prevention: the whole array of intervention aimed at reducing
risk, susceptibility and vulnerability to infection and re-infection
with HIV, including behavioral, social and structural intervention
as well as adherence to care and treatment.
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Expectations of Workshop
• More networking and collaboration?
• A research/ technical working group
on Religious barriers to prevention?
• Concerted documentation and
sharing of experiences and
successes?
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Methodology
• Participatory
• Reflexive
• Discussion
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