DanChurchAid
Zambia
HIV/AIDS in Zambia
DanchurchAid's HIV/AIDS programme tackles primary prevention, human rights, advocacy and gender issues, especially with regards to empowerment of women and girls.
The programme also tackles home based care, support for orphans and other vulnerable children and capacity building of partners.
The focus of the programme is predominantly rural as most of the HIV/AIDS education and other services have been concentrated in the urban areas. A few communities in peri-urban Lusaka though are targeted in order to reach very vulnerable households.
Challenging myths
Little information on HIV/AIDS finds its way to rural areas and is often overshadowed with lack of clarity, myths and misconceptions. In many parts of the countryside, people still believe that HIV/AIDS is caused by witchcraft, implying that risky sexual behavior is not perceived risky in the eyes of some villagers. There is a need to continuously maintain and improve the understanding of HIV to achieve sustainable behavioral change. Through our relationship with the churches, DanChurchAid has a unique entry point in the communities to e.g. challenge myths. In many rural areas, church organizations are the only institutions providing health education to the populations of those areas.
The problems to be addressed
- Right to information on HIV/AIDS
- Right to highest possible standard of health
- Right to education and dignity
- Counteracting denial of people living with HIV/AIDS, women and children’s rights.
Focus on women, orphans, children and HIV infected
The target group is primarily vulnerable women, orphans and children as well as people living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV infection rates for females aged 15-24 is 6 times higher than for males of the same age group. In Zambia there are an estimated 1,000,000 orphans and these children’s degree of safety and accessibility to public services varies, but is in general very limited.
People living with HIV/AIDS primarily in rural settings are targeted due to the low level of access to quality medical services and related HIV/AIDS support, in particular Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART). People living with HIV/AIDS are also targeted with an aim to reduce stigma and discrimination. We also prioritize a greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS in the activities, both as volunteers and as employees.
The moral and legal rights bearers
The moral and legal bearers are the secondary target group of DanChurchAid's HIV/AIDS work in Malawi. On the national level the moral duty bearers are the religious mother bodies and church affiliated organisations. They are targeted with information and advocacy activities. On community level the traditional leaders and men in particular and are targeted on issues of human and legal rights awareness in order to address gender inequalities. The other group of duty bearers is the legal duty bearers within the government institutions and their local authorities. They are primarily targeted with evidence based information and advocacy initiatives.
Zambia
