Strategies for Change: Breaking Barriers to HIV Prevention, Treatment, and Care for Women

Presents, from OSI's 2008 symposium, worldwide initiatives providing empowerment, legal, economic, and health services for women, who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, to ensure equitable access to services and involvement in shaping policies

Men as contraceptive users: Programs, outcomes and recommendations

Knowledge about reaching men as clients of family planning services in today’s programming environment is still limited. This report reviews 47 current activities, programs, and evidence that affect men’s use of contraceptive methods. The review includes three methods that men use directly, namely condoms, vasectomy, and withdrawal, and one that requires their direct cooperation, namely the Standard Days Method. Evidence comes from: a review of published and grey literature documentation of interventions focused on men as users of contraception in low- and middle-income countries; and interviews with organizations and institutions that are conducting programming and research in the area of men as users of contraceptive methods. This review and synthesis of current work, along with recommendations for further implementation science research, highlights the need to engage men as family planning users in addition to efforts to address gender-based norms and behavior that hinder family planning use

Kuongeza ushahidi unaojulikana kwa kuzuia maambukizi ya Virusi vya UKIMWI (VVU) miongoni mwa wasichana na wanawake [Scaling up evidence-informed HIV prevention for adolescent girls and young women]

This brief offers priority interventions for programmers based on evidence from successful programming for women and girls; though a number of the interventions listed also benefit men and boys. The brief is divided into three parts: evidence-informed priority areas for programming; implementation and research gaps that must be addressed; and considerations for scaling up successful programming for girls and young women. The interventions described here are based on a thorough review of global evidence; however, each country and community response must be tailored to meet the specific opportunities and challenges faced locally

Gender considerations along the HIV treatment cascade: An evidence review with priority actions

This treatment brief provides policymakers and program implementers with evidence about the impact of gender dynamics on treatment access and adherence and the gender-related gaps in treatment research and programming. It also includes priority actions that can be taken to better address gender within treatment programming and raises questions for implementation science in order to achieve the global 90-90-90 goal. This brief draws from What Works for Women and Girls: Evidence for HIV Interventions and uses the WHO treatment cascade framework to identify and analyze major gender considerations in providing antiretroviral therapy to those living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries. It focuses on antiretroviral treatment access and adherence as well as the gender dynamics related to who gets tested and under which circumstances

Effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent or respond to female genital mutilation: A review of evidence

Girls are one-third less likely to be subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) today than 30 years ago. However, rapid population growth in some of the world’s poorest countries, where FGM persists, threatens to roll back progress. In 2020 alone, an estimated 4.1 million girls were at risk of being subjected to FGM. Without concerted and accelerated actions to end the practice, an estimated 68 million additional girls will have been subjected to FGM by 2030. Despite intensified global research efforts to inform strategies to address FGM, there has been little synergy between evidence generation and the implementation of programs and policies designed to end the practice. As the final decade of acceleration toward zero new cases of FGM by 2030 begins, increasing the rigor of research for programming, policy development, and resource allocation is critical. This report synthesized and assessed the quality and strength of existing evidence on FGM interventions reported between 2008 and 2020. Study findings will contribute to strengthening the synergy between evidence generation and FGM programs and inform a global research agenda for FGM

Creating a culture of evidence use: Using an innovative knowledge translation platform to inform HIV/AIDS programming for women and girls

Given that moving evidence from a study to policy, programs, and practice can often take a decade or more, what is the best way to get evidence into the hands of those developing policies and programs to speed its use? Enhancing the use of evidence in policies and programs through an innovative web-based knowledge platform, What Works for Women: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions, resulted in major changes in National Strategic HIV Plans plus Concept Notes submitted to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 14 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This paper documents how components of the platform resulted in demonstrable changes in HIV programming for women and girls, as a key resource for the top institutions in the HIV pandemic: PEPFAR, Global Fund, UNAIDS, and civil society organizations. This document presents lessons learned from the creation and dissemination of this knowledge platform that may be useful for many other potential applications to increasing evidence-informed, gender-responsive policies

Are men well served by family planning programs?

Although the range of contraceptives includes methods for men, namely condoms, vasectomy and withdrawal that men use directly, and the Standard Days Method (SDM) that requires their participation, family planning programming has primarily focused on women. What is known about reaching men as contraceptive users? This paper draws from a review of 47 interventions that reached men and proposes 10 key considerations for strengthening programming for men as contraceptive users. A review of programming shows that men and boys are not particularly well served by programs. Most programs operate from the perspective that women are contraceptive users and that men should support their partners, with insufficient attention to reaching men as contraceptive users in their own right. The notion that family planning is women’s business only is outdated. There is sufficient evidence demonstrating men’s desire for information and services, as well as men’s positive response to existing programming to warrant further programming for men as FP users. The key considerations focus on getting information and services where men and boys need it; addressing gender norms that affect men’s attitudes and use while respecting women’s autonomy; reaching adolescent boys; including men as users in policies and guidelines; scaling up successful programming; filling gaps with implementation research and monitoring & evaluation; and creating more contraceptive options for men

Are men well served by family planning programs?

Although the range of contraceptives includes methods for men, namely condoms, vasectomy and withdrawal that men use directly, and the Standard Days Method (SDM) that requires their participation, family planning programming has primarily focused on women. What is known about reaching men as contraceptive users? This paper draws from a review of 47 interventions that reached men and proposes 10 key considerations for strengthening programming for men as contraceptive users. A review of programming shows that men and boys are not particularly well served by programs. Most programs operate from the perspective that women are contraceptive users and that men should support their partners, with insufficient attention to reaching men as contraceptive users in their own right. The notion that family planning is women’s business only is outdated. There is sufficient evidence demonstrating men’s desire for information and services, as well as men’s positive response to existing programming to warrant further programming for men as FP users. The key considerations focus on getting information and services where men and boys need it; addressing gender norms that affect men’s attitudes and use while respecting women’s autonomy; reaching adolescent boys; including men as users in policies and guidelines; scaling up successful programming; filling gaps with implementation research and monitoring and evaluation; and creating more contraceptive options for men

Ampliación de la prevención del VIH basada en pruebas entre niñas adolescentes y mujeres jóvenes [Scaling up evidence-informed HIV prevention for adolescent girls and young women]

This brief offers priority interventions for programmers based on evidence from successful programming for women and girls; though a number of the interventions listed also benefit men and boys. The brief is divided into three parts: evidence-informed priority areas for programming; implementation and research gaps that must be addressed; and considerations for scaling up successful programming for girls and young women. The interventions described here are based on a thorough review of global evidence; however, each country and community response must be tailored to meet the specific opportunities and challenges faced locally

Renforcer la prévention du VIH fondée sur des données éclairées visant les adolescenteset les jeunes femmes [Scaling up evidence-informed HIV prevention for adolescent girls and young women]

This brief offers priority interventions for programmers based on evidence from successful programming for women and girls; though a number of the interventions listed also benefit men and boys. The brief is divided into three parts: evidence-informed priority areas for programming; implementation and research gaps that must be addressed; and considerations for scaling up successful programming for girls and young women. The interventions described here are based on a thorough review of global evidence; however, each country and community response must be tailored to meet the specific opportunities and challenges faced locally