How i2i is improving HIV prevention efforts in Africa

As a partner in the South to South Learning Network’s (SSLN) insight 2 implementation (i2i) project, Genesis is key to efforts to use the best available evidence to inform and improve HIV prevention policies and practices in 15 African countries.

The i2i project signals a shift in the SSLN’s i2i stream, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Genesis is collaborating with the Population Council Inc (Washington DC and Kenya) on this three-year initiative that aims to synthesise, contextualise and disseminate evidence to strengthen HIV prevention implementation practices and policies.

Building on the foundation of Phase I (Sycona), Phase II shifts from reviewing evidence focused solely on adolescent girls and young women. It adopts a more comprehensive approach that considers the whole population in the broader context of prevention, and expands its reach in 15 African countries.

As the new i2i stream within SSLN, our aim is to:

• Collaborate with country stakeholders to identify and prioritise their prevention evidence gaps and to ascertain their needs for support in translating insights into implementation, thereby strengthening their prevention response.
• Consolidate and synthesise selected HIV prevention evidence and promising practices to inform key stakeholders in-country in a way that guides stakeholders on how to apply the evidence.

Our approach is collaborative and tailored to meet specific, contextual needs by engaging with country stakeholders to determine their evidence gaps and create accessible, relevant knowledge products that respond appropriately.

Finally, we aim to support country stakeholders in utilising and implementing these knowledge products. This involves not only making these resources available but also ensuring that they bring effective action to influence and improve country HIV prevention programming efforts.