PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Community Reach Project seeks to educate the Mongolian public at large about HIV/AIDS, and to teach the most at-risk populations (MARPs) how to protect themselves from infection. Although STI rate high (47.4% of all infectious diseases nationwide) and condom use very low among both groups, these populations are very vulnerable to infection. Despite this observation, only a few small HIV/AIDS pilot projects have been initiated in the country. The most successful of these efforts is a 100% Condom Use Program (100% CUP) that was launched by the Government of Mongolia in 2002 in Darkhan.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Through Community Reach, Pact Mongolia will use the CUP programming principle as the model for its work with MARPs in Ulaanbaatar. Pact will partner with the National AIDS Foundation (NAF) to implement the following activities through subgrants to NAF’s partner NGOs:

• targeted behavior change and risk reduction prevention programs;
• peer outreach;
  
• increased condom use;
  
• referral to VCT centers;
  
• establishment of a strong working relationship with the condom social marketing program to make condoms more accessible and available at all sites;
  
• increased referrals to, and utilization of, quality STI services. 

Pact will develop the capacity of the National AIDS Foundation by funding a full-time Program Officer at NAF, and training NAF staff on grants management, and on organizational capacity assessment.

In addition to providing support to NAF and its partners, Pact will also work to increase the number of NGOs implementing targeted HIV prevention and care programs for MARPs throughout Mongolia.

PACT’S APPROACH

The Pact Mongolia HIV/AIDS Program is part of USAID’s regional mission in Bangkok. Its strategic objective is to increase the use of effective responses to HIV/AIDS in the Greater Mekong Region. Specifically, the program focuses on increasing prevention interventions for MARPs in Mongolia, and will include a focused Behavior Change Communication (BCC) TV campaign to increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Through increased awareness, it is hoped that there will be a significant reduction in HIV/ AIDS related stigma and discrimination.

Pact Mongolia has produced a 24-part BCC educational soap opera based on the education-entertainment format to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and to teach internationally accepted responses to such issues as stigma, HIV/AIDS in the workplace, care and support, and voluntary testing and counseling (VCT). The series also addresses related issues such as human trafficking and other relevant health issues.

Currently, there is very little HIV/AIDS education in Mongolian schools. One strength of a television-based HIV/ AIDS campaign is the accessibility of the format and its appeal to younger audiences that may be less literate, out-of-school, and uninterested in watching more formal educational programming. By developing content which is educational, adventurous, and entertaining- and by disseminating this content through an effective medium more viewers will watch the program. The weekly series will be broadcast nationwide on Mongolian National Television over a six-month period. It is estimated that the program will be viewed by up to 500,000 citizens. The series will follow the lives of young adults dealing with responses to the increased risks of HIV/AIDS and STIs in Mongolia – covering themes of sex, power, money, poverty, adulthood and relationships.

INTERIM RESULTS

This project is in the start-up phase. The 24 part BCC soap opera TV series will begin pre-production in August 2005, with production and post-production to take place from November 2005 – January 2006. Weekly broadcasting is set to being in August 2006.

CONTACTS:

Stevan Buxt
Senior Technical Advisor
Tel: +976-11-460901
Stevan@gobi.initiative.org.mn