Robert Carr Fund/Peers to Zero (P2Z)

Peers to Zero (P2Z)

 

Peers2Zero (P2Z) was a regional network to support African adolescents and young adults living with HIV (AYPLHIV), created in 2016 by the African Young Positive Network (AY+) and Paediatric-Adolescent Treatment Africa (PATA). The aim of this regional network was to organize and support adolescents and young adults living with HIV to empower their peers to seek and access services, to speak out about their experiences of navigating HIV and STI prevention and treatment and help improve related services, and to advocate for national policies to improve access to services.

 

Grantee type:
Regional Consortium
Grant:
$855,000
Grant period:
2016-2018
Lead organization:
Pediatric AIDS Treatment for Africa (PATA)
Partner organizations:
African Young Positives Network (AY+)

 

  • In Sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 1.5 million adolescents ages 10-19 were living with HIV in 2017. Nearly 200,000 additional adolescents ages 15-19 became newly infected with HIV in Sub-Saharan African countries in 2017, with three out of four of these – 140,000 – being adolescent girls.
  • Young people living with HIV (YPLHIV), including adolescents living with HIV, face systematic barriers to information and services. Not only do most African countries lack extensive sexual and reproductive health services targeted to adolescent girls and boys, but over ten African countries – including large countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania – require adolescents 18 or younger to obtain parental or guardian consent to access HIV testing or other sexual and reproductive health services.
  • Improved access by young people to HIV information and testing and broader sexual health services requires country-level organizing and advocacy by adolescents and young adults. Peer-led organizing empowers adolescents and young adults to seek and access services and to speak out about their experiences of navigating HIV and STI prevention and treatment, which in turn helps to improve country health education and services.
  • Organizing by adolescents and young adults requires investment. Young people need support to develop skills and experience in leading and managing organizations, in combatting gender inequality and other biases among their peers and advocating effectively to improve services and national policies.

 

 

RCF funding 2016-2018

The Peers2Zero (P2Z) network received US$ 750,000 in funding from the Robert Carr Fund during 2016-2018. This funding was allocated to both core and strategic program costs of African Young Positive Network (AY+) and Paediatric-Adolescent -Treatment Africa (PATA) to help build the capacity of African networks of adolescents and young adults living with HIV.

 

Geographic coverage

The Peers2Zero (P2Z) regional network convened and supported organizations and individuals representing and serving adolescents and young adults living with HIV in eight countries of Eastern and Southern Africa: Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 

Population coverage

Through this regional consortium, networks led by adolescents and young adults living with HIV (AYPLHIV) in eight African countries — Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – supported young people’s empowerment, leadership, health and rights of young people.

 

Activities 2016-2018

With RCF funding in 2016-2018, African Young Positive Network (AY+) and Paediatric-Adolescent -Treatment Africa (PATA) convened and supported HIV-positive adolescents and young adults from eight African countries to organize regionally and to build skills and experience in monitoring health services and advocating for health and rights.

  • Organizationally, AY+ started as an all-volunteer network and hired several staff, convened a regional AY+ meeting, approved a new governing constitution, elected a new governing Board, and worked to develop its capacity to manage a regional organization and to operate in an open, democratic and representative manner.
  • PATA also built capacity, convening two youth summits of over 100 AYPLHIV and increasing HIV+ youth representation in its advisory panels. PATA implemented two campaigns — #PeerPower and #ReadytoDecide – and launched a new initiative called READY+ in a broader consortium of partners. PATA also produced several publications to document the state of services for children and adolescents and to recommend actions to better implement and scale up youth-led HIV work.
  • At a country level, both AY+ and PATA worked to support the development of national AYPLHIV networks in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Programmatically, over 100 AYPLHIV were trained in issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), health service monitoring and advocacy, and approaches to peer support for access to services.

 

Results 2016-2018

Support from RCF strengthened the organizing and advocacy of HIV-positive adolescents and young adults in East and Southern Africa.  Key results during 2016-2018 include:

  • Network strength and influence: In 2016-2018, AY+ started as an all-volunteer network and grew to a staffed organization with a regionally-elected governing Board and a governing constitution. Ongoing support is still needed in stronger regional governance and accountability and stronger organizational management capacity, but AY+ invested in the new leaders and regional organizing that can be the foundation for a stronger youth-led movement.  Within PATA, HIV+ youth are increasingly representated in advisory panels and PATA has expanded its efforts through a new program called READY+.
  • Network strength and influence: During 2016-2018, new national AYPLHIV networks was formed and registered in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and national Global Fund-related CCMs had increasing HIV+ youth representation.\
  • Access to services: A service monitoring scorecard developed by the Y+ (the Global Network of Young People Living with HIV) was used in eight African countries to advocate for improvements in HIV services, and the Y+ scorecard has been integrated into the ongoing work of both AY+ and PATA. HIV+ young people have been involved with the AIDS Rights Alliance of Southern Africa (ARASA) in advocacy for youth-focused HIV and TB services, and with the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) in defining and advocating for differentiated service delivery approaches for adolescents and young adults. Over 100 health providers were trained in rights based adolescent and youth friendly service provision, with the development of quality improvement plans supported, monitored and evaluated.
  • Peer support: Over 100 AYPLHIV have been engaged as peer supporters on the frontline of service delivery and provide supportive adolescent friendly service in health facilities in eight countries with a focus on clinic-community collaboration with active participation of young people in the planning, delivery and monitoring of services that affect them.