Context
Mozambique is facing a generalised HIV epidemic. HIV infection rates among the general population are high. In 1998, more than eight per cent of pregnant women were HIV-positive. By 2004, this number had doubled. When the first national evaluation was carried out in 2010, 11.5 per cent of the adult population aged 15 to 49 were HIV-positive. Women were more frequently infected (13.1 per cent) than men (9.2 per cent), while girls and young women were even three times as likely (11.1 per cent) to be infected with HIV than young men in the same age group (3.7 per cent).
To address the epidemic, in 2000 the Government of Mozambique adopted the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan, which is being implemented by the National AIDS Council (Conselho Nacional de Combate ao SIDA). The Council includes representatives of all the relevant ministries, faith communities, national NGOs and private sector organisations.
Objective
The National HIV policy is implemented nationwide.
Approach
The project cooperates closely with the National AIDS Council and also supports the Ministry of Public Administration and the Ministry of Health. The AIDS Council received co-financing for organisational development from the European Union from 2010 to 2013, and additional funding from Denmark from 2011 to 2013. This made it possible to roll out the programme’s activities nationwide, beyond the three priority provinces of the German-Mozambican cooperation (Inhambane, Sofala and Manica).
The project’s priority activities are:
implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan in the public sector, particularly in the three priority provinces of the German-Mozambican cooperation;
supporting the design and execution of effective workplace programmes in the public and private sectors (until 2014), implemented from 2008 to 2013 by the consulting firm GFA;
strengthening the National AIDS Council countrywide by providing technical advice on communications and organisational development at national and provincial levels, and, since 2012, also at district level;
cooperating with Mozambique’s largest private university (Universidade Católica de Moçambique) in Beira to develop and conduct academic HIV online courses in Portuguese language (until the end of 2014);
cooperating with the Medical Faculty at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, in the area of sexual and reproductive health (until the end of 2015).
Results
In the three priority provinces of the German-Mozambican development cooperation, the programme has contributed to reducing the number of new HIV infections, and the infection rate has reached a plateau. Nationwide, however, HIV prevalence remains alarmingly high, with above 20 per cent in some provinces.
The programme has made a significant contribution to the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan throughout the country. An instrument for organisational development was designed and used, resulting in measurable improvements in strategic planning, coordination and communication in all of the AIDS Council’s 11 provincial delegations. The AIDS Council is now enabled to coordinate awareness-raising campaigns more effectively at national level. Examples of this include the HIV campaign during the All-Africa Games in 2011, various awareness raising campaigns for young people and World AIDS Day, which takes place on an annual basis on December 1st.
The National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan is also being applied in the public sector. 23 Ministries have introduced workplace programmes, reaching more than 30,000 employees and public servants. In the health sector, a national coordination structure has been established for workplace programmes, including 174 institutions. More than 90 per cent of Mozambique’s health personnel know their HIV status.
In the private sector, the Business Coalition against AIDS (ECoSIDA), which was supported by the programme, has introduced workplace programmes in over 200 companies. The University in Beira has established a compulsory module on HIV prevention for 12,000 students and has been running academic online courses on HIV since 2011. The other German international cooperation projects are currently carrying out 20 measures to raise awareness on HIV and to promote gender-sensitive and human rights-based approaches.