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Bridging the HIV divide

The Angolan women and girls transforming their communities

December 2^nd, 2019

Globally, an estimated 6,000 young women and girls become infected with HIV each week. This devastating reality is particularly stark in Angola where new HIV infections among women aged 15-24 are more than double those of young men. But the next generation of female activists are fighting back. Mobilizing in local communities, they are increasing awareness of HIV and health issues, improving access to HIV support and services for their peers and challenging inequality.

In Angola, widespread inequalities, poverty and a climate change-induced drought in the Eastern and Southern provinces have pushed people’s coping mechanisms to the limit.

A country in transition

The end of the 27-year civil war in 2002 in Angola heralded a new beginning. But widespread inequalities, poverty and a climate change-induced drought in the Eastern and Southern provinces have pushed people’s coping mechanisms to the limit. Angola is one of the few countries in Africa where new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have risen in the last ten years.

Only 42% of people living with HIV are estimated to know their status in Angola. This is far behind the global target of 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status by 2020. Efforts to increase access to HIV testing services that are free of stigma and discrimination are vital. For adolescent girls and young women this means HIV approaches must be tailored to their specific needs so that information is shared by someone they can relate to and trust. HIV testing facilities must also be made available at sites they can access and where they feel comfortable.

For adolescent girls and young women, HIV approaches must be tailored to their specific needs so that information is shared by someone they can relate to and trust.

Responding to this clarion call are women-led community groups known as Bancadas Feminanas – which translates to ‘women’s band’. Led by trained female Activistas, the groups work in local neighbourhoods, using local languages, to increase awareness of HIV and health issues and to encourage women and girls to know their HIV status.

Women-led community groups known as Bancadas Feminanas work in local neighbourhoods, using local languages, to increase awareness of HIV and health issues and to encourage women and girls to know their HIV status.

As highlighted by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, confidential and independent access to health services is essential to ensuring people can protect themselves from HIV. But young people face significant legal and policy barriers to accessing HIV testing services, with some countries requiring parental or guardian consent. Addressing these challenges and opening the conversation on HIV and health issues in families and communities is paramount.

Reginalda Elias (16) attends a group in Ondjiva, Cunene province.

“I already did an HIV test with the Activista. At first I was afraid, but she started talking to me, to see if I was ok. Now I can talk to my family. At first they used to say 'these things are for older people; you can't be here talking.' Now they have started getting used to it and started talking to me,” she says.

Adolescents often fall through the gaps in HIV services and are less likely than adults to be tested for the virus. For this reason group leaders receive training on social mobilisation and HIV, and meetings are advertised via school and church networks. The trained Activistas also promote the meetings in their own neighbourhoods and marketplaces to help reach adolescent girls who are out of school.

Sharing knowledge, saving lives

7 in 10 young women in sub-Saharan Africa do not have comprehensive knowledge about HIV, and fear and discrimination continue to fuel myths and misconceptions. Yet community-led organizations are well placed to break down these barriers, as they invoke trust and treat their peers with respect and dignity.

“My friends used to come and say ‘they'll give you AIDS’ and I would say ‘don't talk crazy’ and explain what I was learning. Now one of them is also here in the group,” explained Felismina (14) at the Bancadas Femininas group in Ondjiva.

Felismina (14) is part of the Bancadas Femininas group in Ondjiva.

To increase awareness of HIV and health issues among young women and adolescent girls in Angola, the groups use storytelling, music and drama to help break down barriers.

To date, the Bancadas Femininas have reached over 33,000 adolescent girls and young women, supported by UNDP, UNFPA, Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo Angola (ADPP) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“I feel good to see such a powerful woman leading the group. I always say, I must do everything I can so that one day I can be like that too. Dedicate myself more. Talk to other people. I have to learn. Being an Activista is a very good thing,” said Maria da Conceição (17).

"Being an Activista is a very good thing,” said Maria da Conceição (17).

Breaking the cycle

In 2018, only 38% of pregnant women living with HIV accessed antiretroviral medicine to prevent transmission of the virus to their baby in Angola. Preventing transmission of HIV to the next generation is fundamental to ending the epidemic and networks of pregnant women and mothers are playing a major role in offering social protection, safety, solidarity and support.

Laura Armando (32) lives in Luanda, Angola and recently found out she has HIV. “I knew nothing, understood nothing. They said I have HIV but my husband does not. And I have four kids.”

“They show me how to take my medication to make sure my baby doesn't get HIV.” Laura Armando (32) lives in Luanda, Angola and recently found out she has HIV.

Her children tested negative for HIV and now Laura attends a mutual support group which helps pregnant women access HIV treatment.“They show me how to take my medication to make sure my baby doesn't get HIV.”

In partnership with the INLS (National Institute to Fight HIV/AIDS in Angola), UNDP and the Global Fund work with local networks and community groups to help reach more pregnant women living with HIV, with the overall goal of ensuring that all babies are born free of HIV. UNDP has worked with partners to support the development of the national plan for eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV, entitled Born Free to Shine, which is headed by Angola’s First Lady, Ana Dias Lourenço.

UNDP has worked with partners to support the development of the national plan for eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV.

Alzira Fonseca Viera (22) is part of the Luta pela Vida (Fight for Life) Association, for women living with HIV.

“I have realized that family is not just blood, we can make other women part of our family, so they become our relatives. I didn't know that there were meetings between women who live positively with the virus. I look at them and say ‘wow’. There's a doctor in our group. When I looked at her, I found her very young. She said she had been living with the virus for 20 years. So, I can get there. It gave me strength,” she says.

The power of communities

The support provided by UNDP, the Global Fund and partners, including Obra da Divina Providência, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and MWENHO, is designed to help empower women and adolescent girls through initiatives in their own communities. Women and adolescent girls living with, or affected by, HIV are on the front line of the fight to end the epidemic and are best placed to deliver support to their peers. Thanks to the work of community-led organizations, globally, over 24.5 million people have access to HIV treatment as of mid-2019.

In a world of rising inequalities, fragility, and discrimination, communities are a critical part of the solution to global challenges. Whether it is to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 of ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all, Goal 5 of gender equality, Goal 16 of peace, justice and strong institutions, Goal 10 of reduced inequalities, or many of the other SDGs, the role of community organizations is more important than ever.