Working with Communities to Involve Men in HIV / AIDS Prevention

Ecological Model: Six Levels1 Strengthen Individual Knowledge and Skills2 Create Supportive Peer and Family Structures3 Educate Health Providers4 Mobilize Community Members5 Improve Organizational Practices6 Influence Legislation and Policy at the Societal Level

Working at the Community LevelGender equality work entails changes in men’s behaviors

In order to begin where men are at, you need to work at the community level

This means that you should begin by conducting a community assessment

Who can be reached?What group(s) or individuals is it essential for to reach to promote issues around gender, male engagement, and HIV?

How important is the targeted group in terms of meeting long term goals?

How feasible is it for your organization to reach this group? Are you already working with this group? If not, do you have easy access or connections to this group?

How open will this group be to your project activities?

Where can they be reached?

• Where is your audience most likely to be found?

Can they be accessed? Does your organization have any current connections with the target audience?

When is the appropriate time to access the target audience?

How receptive is your target audience likely to be to your activity? How can their interest be enhanced?

Who is available to reach them?

• Who in the organization is available to participate in the activity?

Who in the organization has the appropriate expertise or experience to be the spokesperson for the activity? For example, should facilitators be men or women? Older or younger? From which ethnic group? And so on.

Who is the most appropriate person to connect with the target audience? Who will be accepted by the target audience?

Who in the organization is available to support project activities?

What resources are available?Does your organization have financial support for the activity?

How can your organization obtain financial support?

What other resources are needed? Where will they come from?

What messages do you want to impart?

Your organization needs to identify the key messages that they want the audience to take with them from the activity.

What outcomes do you want?When an activity hopes to affect change in behavior, facilitators hope to impact more than beliefs and attitudes. What specific outcomes does your organization intend to promote through its activity?

How will you know when these outcomes have been accomplished?

What other groups can be allies?

Are there any groups carrying out similar work? In the community? In the region? In the country?

What resources can they bring to your activity?

What are the risks / challenges likely to be?

• What might act as ‘facilitators’ of success? How can these aspects of the activity be enhanced?

• How might you deal with opposition?

Keep in Mind:• the overall goal is gender equality• you will need to navigate men’s fear• use a language of responsibility rather than blame• nurture supportive groups of men• facilitate discussion among boys and men• develop a language of emotions• support with empathy and compassion• identify appropriate entry points for discussing gender issues

Best practices in working to engage young men in HIV and AIDS education include:• activities should be participatory

• activities should engage participants in experiential learning (analyzing their own behaviors activities should be relevant rather than being told ‘how’)

• activities should be relevant to participants; for example, consider whether they are single, dating or married. The best way to ensure relevance is to involve young men in the planning and implementation of activities

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education strategies should be viewed as only one piece of a broader and more comprehensive approach to engaging young men in HIV preventionpresent men as capable of playing a positive role in the health and well-being of their partners, families and communitiesreach men where they are, rather than creating new arenas in which to engage them

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• present men as capable of playing a positive role in the health and well-being of their partners, families, and communities• reach men where they are at rather than creating new venues• provide private spaces for men to obtain reproductive health services• provide comfortable opportunities for men to share with each other• build organizational cultures that are committed to working with men

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• build strategic alliances in the community• respond to the needs of staff in their abilities to work with men, especially around issues of sexuality• integrate a strong social justice emphasis; build coalitions with progressive social movements• conduct research in order to identify ‘what works’ and share this knowledge• be prepared to deal with opposition but remember that there are always men already engaged in positive behaviors

Monitoring and Evaluating Progress at Different Stages in Your Project

Project Identification and Preparation• Ensure that the baseline study or benchmark survey is gender-sensitive.

Carry out an initial gender analysis or study to identify the positive as well as the potential negative impacts of project interventions on women and men.

Identify gender-related goals and priorities based on available information and consultation with all project stakeholders.

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Conduct a gender assessment based on i) identification of key development and participation issues, including assessment and definition of social impacts; and ii) evaluation of institutional and organizational issues.

• Assess the institutional capacity of partner organizations for integrating gender considerations in all project activities.

Remember the ‘gender thinking’ guidelines and the need to involve community members (women and men) in project identification

Project Design and AppraisalEnsure that gender equality is integrated into project goals and objectives.

Set clear targets that are realistic, quantifiable statements of expected outcomes against which actual project results can be measured.

Develop and select the “best” available data collection methods and decide on the timing of data collection.

Organize reporting and feedback processes that clearly identify who will collect and analyze information, when, and who will receive it, when.

Project Implementation• Carry out training or capacity development exercises for integrating, monitoring and evaluating gender-related issues.

During project supervision, collect gender-sensitive data based on the selected indicators, and monitor progress against targets set for the period under evaluation.

During quarterly or mid-term evaluation, assess progress and make corrections if needed to obtain expected gender-related outcomes.

Project CompletionAssess the impact of gender integration in the overall project context.

Assess the impact of project interventions on women and men, as well as on gender relations.

• Derive and share gender-related lessons that are relevant to the overall project goals and objectives.

• Share learning with regional and national organizations.

Examples of Community Engagement Activities

street drama / theatrical performancesmedia campaignshealth fairsmuralstalk showsfacilitated group discussions / community meetingsdoor-to-door visitsmusic competitionssport eventsmarches