The HIV Prevention Ambassador toolkit includes colorful, 1-page handouts and worksheets in a booklet format that trained HIV Prevention Ambassadors can use to conduct peer support, community discussions, and other activities. The toolkit is designed to accompany the Ambassador Training Package and can be translated into local languages.

The OPTIONS Consortium, in collaboration with Collective Action, has developed an HIV Prevention Ambassador Training Package to support adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) to play a meaningful role in the rollout of oral PrEP in their communities. Through interactive activities, discussion, and action planning, the training prepares Ambassadors to share information with their peers about oral PrEP as part of combination HIV prevention. Ambassadors also gain skills to support peers who are interested in using PrEP and to build community support for AGYW use of oral PrEP. For any Ambassadors who have not been previously trained on sexual and reproductive health and rights, the training also includes foundational sessions on sexual and reproductive health, human rights, gender, violence and HIV transmission.

The LINKAGES project first started working in Burundi in August 2016 to reduce HIV transmission among key populations and improve their enrollment and retention in care and treatment. Within the past three years, LINKAGES Burundi has consistently experienced high rates of linking newly diagnosed HIV-positive female sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender people to care and treatment. Between the first quarter of FY18 and the second quarter of FY19, the average rates for linkage to antiretroviral treatment were 98 percent among FSWs, 96 percent among MSM, and 100 percent among transgender people. This blog outlines the five “secrets” LINKAGES Burundi credits for their success.

The biennial South African AIDS Conference (SA AIDS 2019), which took place earlier this month in Durban, South Africa, was an opportunity to meet a diverse range of players in the field of HIV and AIDS -- and one of the most innovative and inspiring of these is definitely Grassroot Soccer (GRS), so the SHARE team was really excited to get the chance to chat with some of the organization’s coaches, or young adult mentors, and master trainers about the work they are doing and what brought them to the conference.