Strengthening HIV prevention through peer learning
Genesis, in partnership with the University of Manitoba, is implementing the South to South HIV Prevention Learning Network (SSLN), which supports peer learning in a network structure to improve HIV prevention programming in 15 African countries.
This initiative provides a space for African countries to come together and share best practices in support of greater HIV prevention outcomes. This is critical as countries seek to fast-track progress towards meeting the 2030 target of reducing new HIV infections by 90%.
The SSLN’s vision is to be the most trusted South-to-South learning and collaboration platform for HIV prevention. We place a large emphasis on building trust and reciprocity between over 600 nominated Country Champions. These are influential, multisectoral and diverse HIV prevention stakeholders in the countries.
Our objectives are to support countries to:
- Assess and identify programmatic gaps and priorities for their HIV prevention response. This includes the identification of country capacity development and technical assistance needs in HIV prevention.
- Build social capital among HIV programme managers and implementers for joint problem solving and implementation of best practices.
- Facilitate documentation, sharing and replication of promising practices in HIV prevention.
- Strengthen country strategies as well as PEPFAR and Global Fund grant applications for HIV prevention programming for improved results.
We connect Country Champions and support South-to-South collaboration through facilitated self-reflection, shared learnings and application of promising practices. We use tailored approaches for learning (online and in-person), such as webinars, link & learn sessions, virtual tours, case studies, learning visits and workshops. This ensures that learnings are transferred effectively and that countries apply knowledge. We have curated and co-hosted over 280 learning activities.
On our website you can access: synthesised and visualised country prevention self-assessment data; country summaries, action plans, learning agendas and technical assistance plans; a document repository; and links to our YouTube channel, social media pages and photos/videos of all our learning events.
Two external evaluations of the SSLN have found that it has achieved its intended objectives. More importantly, the results show that we have realised value in the following ways:
- SSLN is a critical country catalyst for HIV prevention. The SSLN catalyses action for prevention in countries where there is significant need. In doing so, it drives value in reaching regional and global prevention goals.
- SSLN is a global and regional asset that partners with, gathers insights from, and disseminates information to local levels. The SSLN serves as a global and regional asset that partners can leverage for closer connection at country level. We provide a structured mechanism through which global partners can gain access and respond to insights.
- SSLN is an effective mechanism for diffusion and application of learnings. Our external evaluation found that “all countries in the network report application of learnings into practice”. These applications include informing national policy and practice in every HIV prevention pillar, informing proposals and influencing funding, scaling up HIV prevention services, engaging more key populations and civil society in national-level decision making, introducing new and innovative HIV prevention programmes, and improving the knowledge of different stakeholders in country.