 Details
Name: Youth HIV/AIDS& Enterprenership development Project 2006-2010
Description:
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The magnitude of the HIV/AIDS and its problems in Kenya needs no further underscoring, but requires and necessitates urgent and massive preventive education and behavior change initiatives. For significant impact to be made towards the reduction of HIV infection rates and reinstate behavior change processes; imaginative and effective message and insights must reach significant proportions of the national population.
The commercial sex workers ,street children’s, Youths in and out of school form one of those proportions of the working population that have not been deliberately targeted for mobilization, sensitization and behavior change packages with regard to STIs and HIV/AIDS.. This is despite the fact that the majority commercial sex workers, street children’s, Youths in and out of school fall predominantly within the risky age bracket and are highly vulnerable groups
Since the first case of HIV caused acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was reported in the early 1980s the disease has rocketed from an irrelevant problem to a number one cause of death in Kenya today. Presently it is estimated that infection rate ranges from 5% to 35 5 and that over 51 % of the patients in Kenyan hospitals are suffering from HIV/AIDS related ailments. NASCOP, 1999) and between 1982 and 1999 a total of 1.5 million Kenyans died of AIDS related ailments. The disease spread in Kenya mainly through heterological sexual intercourse and it is believed that 90% of AIDS cases in Kenya are due to sex. Since the most affected age groups (15-45years) are the most economically productive there is a resultant decline in family income as well as in the quantity and quality of food, shelter and access to basic necessities of life. Such a situation leads to lack of normal support for children, the elderly and the sick. AIDS has a serious impact on the economy through labour loss and cost hospitalization. Western Kenya particularly Nyanza province is said to be one of the areas leading in HIV/AIDS infection with an average infection rate of 30%. Nyanza province accounts for about 30% of AIDS cases in Kenya (Odindo et al) about 70% of bed occupancy in Kisumu city within Nyanza is due to AIDS related ailments and 27% of pregnant women in Kisumu are estimated to be infected with HIV (NASCOP 1999) The prevalence of AIDS has substantially affected child survival in the region. NASCOP (1999) reports that 30% to 40% of Kenyan babies born to infected mothers will be HIV positive. This trend seriously affects child survival in Western Kenya since this area is already known to have high child mortality due to malaria measles, dysentery, diarrhoea, cholera and other infections
The government on her part is committed to winning the battle against HIV and AIDS She has been playing a leading role in mobilizing financial, human, and technical resources to combat this epidemic. The government issued Sessional Paper Number 4 of 1997 as the framework for response to the epidemic. In 1999 the president declared AIDS a national disaster. Subsequently the government mobilized additional resources and established National Aids Council to advocate and to strengthen and coordinate the multi -sectoral response to contain the spread of HIV virus and mitigate the impact of AIDS.
Although the demographic data represent only a small portion of the Kenyans who have AIDS during this time, they however, illustrate the pattern and several facts such as:
· More than 75% of AIDS cases occur in adults between the ages of 20 and 45. Since this is the most economically productive part of the population, illness and death at these ages is a serious economic and social burden for the family and society. This is also the age when investments in education are just beginning to pay off. These deaths have important consequences for children since most people in this age group are raising young children.
· Male and female cases are about equal. This is because HIV is predominantly transmitted through heterosexual contact.
· The peak ages for AIDS cases are 25 – 29 for females and 30 – 34 for males.
· Young women in the age groups 15 – 19 and 20 - 24 are more than twice as likely to be infected as males in the same age group
· About 10% of reported AIDS cases occur in children under five years of age. Most of these cases are due to mother-to-child transmission
· The absence of many AIDS cases in the 5 – 14 group indicates that infection is spread by mosquitoes or casual contact such as shaking hands.
From the above, it is clear that our target group fall within the largest category of age bracket at the highest risk of infection.
The strategies used by the other agencies propagating HIV/AIDS, mainly target large homogeneous groups for sensitization, while commercial sex workers ,street children’s, Youths in and out of school apparently, have been viewed as a heterogeneous and thus difficult to target. The scenario is one where commercial sex workers ,street children’s, Youths in and out of school form have never benefited as a working group from the numerous HIV/AIDS awareness programmes in the country.
JUSITIFICATION
BACKGROUND / JUSTIFICATION
Current Interventions
Efforts have been taken to address the pandemic variously and diversely across sectors. Among the interventions that have been undertaken have broadly target the common populace with emphasis on the youth. The main interventions have been on prevention of heterosexual transmission, promotion of abstinence before marriage and faithfulness to one partner, promotion of voluntary counseling and testing, promotion of the use and availability of condoms, control of other sexually transmitted diseases, prevention of infection in young people, prevention of mother to child transmission and mainstreaming of home based care for AIDS patients.
It is now evident that the problem now experienced in the campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS is the changing of the attitudes, practice and behaviors of the Lake Region communities and Kenyans in general on condom usage. There is urgent need of additional information materials, education and communication (IEC) that would go beyond raising awareness towards the problems.
Hitherto, many of the IEC approaches have been message driven. Such approaches tend to be deductive in nature and often ineffective in changing attitudes and practices concerning high risk HIV/AIDS behaviors. There is strong need to make interactive, less directive approaches which will allow people to self explore, in an intense personal manner, the issues and arising conditions of HIV/AIDS and to self develop protective strategies that they adopt as their own and these the base for cultural approach to promote condom use since our culture has been an hindrance to use of condom as alternative preventive measures..
Identified Gaps
Problems of unemployment and poverty affecting Kenya’s Youth, and street children’s are well known in GoK departments. The magnitude of these hardships in Nyanza Province is nearly the second worst poverty stricken area in the country’s scenario. Severe socio-economic hardship and Poverty in Nyanza is reflected in the poor performance of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education , high drop out in secondary school ,Arising number of street families and sex workers Also the impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) related infections and deaths among the youths in Nyanza Province and Kisumu corroborates research theories of close correlation between poverty and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS exposure. For example the male youth shy or avoid marriage because they truly lack adequate economic base for marriage and subsequent up bringing of young families and lack of the above are the driving force towards sex workers as alternative way of living.
The position is aggravated by the fact that:
1. GOK does not have Social Security programme for providing relief or support in favour of the unemployed youth.
2. The youth do not have any savings for establishing income generating projects for self economic reliance.
3. The youth lack collateral requirements or acceptable marketable security required by the financial institutions, which lend out capital funds for establishing business.
4. More often that not, the youth may poses K.C.P.E and K.C.S.E qualification lacking inadequate skill development training for establishing IGA’s. They need capacity building. It is mainly against this background of severe social and economic hardships that face the youth, street children’s and sex workers that the project is founded.
Interventions referred to above have generally been provided to the public however, the youths, street children’s and sex workers operators as working groups have not been specifically targeted. This group of vulnerable persons has not been used to maximize on some specific interventions that can be easily accessed by their numerous members. These interventions include:
· Promotion of voluntary counseling and testing
· Promotion of the use and availability of condoms
· Control of other sexually transmitted diseases
· I.E.C accessibility and distribution
· Economic Empowerment through promotion of I.G.A
· Behavior change training and awareness packages
·
2.0 THE PROJECT GOAL
The broad objective is to prevent and control the spread of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS among the youth in & out of school, street children’s and sex workers
2.1 Specific Objectives
· To establish the current situation on the status of HIV/AIDS among the target group.
· To develop resource persons from the target groups who will increase the number and capacities of others to address STIs and HIV/AIDS prevention and control needs of people in the community.
· To develop, support and implement STIs and HIV/AIDS management and care strategies with the target groups.
· To disseminate and share information education and communication materials among the target groups aimed at the prevention of unsafe sexual or general behavior.
The initiative will focus on:
i) Provision of STIs and HIV/AIDS information, education and communication as relates to causes, prevention, control and management of HIV/AIDS amongst the population in the location.
ii) Awareness and sensitization campaigns
iii) Identifying safe sexual behavior committing, oneself to it and reinforcing the safe behavior. (Behavior change package)
iv) Networking and linkages with existing institutions and Civil Society organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS
v) Economic Empowerment of target group that has reach the age of employability through promotion of I.G.A
vi) Provision of accurate reproductive health information and family planning materials
2.3 Target Group
· The project will among the youth in & out of school, street children’s and sex workers
3.0 MAIN ACTIVITIES
To meet the objectives set out for the project. It is proposed that the following activities will be undertaken within an agreed time frame:
· Conduct a baseline Research survey
· Train leaders and selected members of from the target groups as resource persons who will increase the nuprovide enterprenurship ,and market development support to youths and women in Lake victoria region interms of start-up capital
Send a message: cadifKenya@groups.takingitglobal.org
Subscribe: cadifKenya-subscribe@groups.takingitglobal.org
Unsubscribe: cadifKenya-unsubscribe@groups.takingitglobal.org
|
Messages
| Subject |
Sender |
Date |
 |
| This group does not yet have any messages. |
Documents
|
|
Tags
You must be logged in to add tags.
 Subscription Settings
 Members
Related Items
|
= moderator
