Community Mobilization to Fight HIV/AIDS

Among the poorest countries in the world, with over 51% of the population living below the poverty line, Rwanda is fighting to make headway against the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the social consequences of the epidemic, while grappling with other public health crises, chronic food insecurity, and the psychological impact of the 1994 genocide that left hundreds of thousands dead and many more displaced.

Despite the challenges facing this small, central African nation, Rwanda benefits from an engaged government and a dense and active network of grassroots associations, community-based (CBOs), faith-based (FBOs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In the fall of 2005, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) selected a consortium, led by CHF International, to implement the USAID-funded Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Program (CHAMP) in Rwanda. Through this program, CHF International works side-by-side with the country's grassroots organizations to build their capacity to support, treat and care for tens of thousands of Rwandans living with HIV/AIDS and hundreds of thousands of others affected by the epidemic.

In addition to CHF International, which is widely recognized for its community-based approach and management expertise, the CHAMP consortium also includes Johns Hopkins University Center for Communications Programs. The program also draws up on the expertise of numerous Rwandan partners, including the Government of Rwanda and local authorities, Caritas-Rwanda, the Rwanda Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, and others.

CHF International is directly sub-granting nearly 70% of CHAMP's funding to local Rwandan organizations, which will empower them with the resources they need to fight the epidemic and to support their communities. At the same time, CHF is providing its partners with extensive skillsbuilding assistance that is strengthening their capacity to mobilize communities, to manage volunteers, to administer programs and to grow institutionally. As part of its strategy to increase the role of Rwandan NGOs, CHAMP is working to transfer beneficiaries currently being served by international organizations to local Rwandan partners.

Our Impact in Rwanda so far:

> More than 170,000 Rwandans have been reached through HIV/AIDS prevention messages;

> Nearly 40,000 orphans and vulnerable children have received health and nutrition education, clinical services, and school supplies and uniforms so that they can continue their education;

> More than 26,500 individuals have received palliative care services, including psycho-social support, meal support, hospital and home support, etc.;

> Over 3,000 men and women have been trained in providing HIV and AIDS-related palliative care services

> Vocational training and in-kind donations are being provided to over 1,000 child-headed households.