Over the years, MENA Rosa, aimed at strengthening the skills and knowledge, as well as empowering and educating WLHIV to become agents of change, peer educators, and outreach workers in the community.
Thus, since its establishment in 2010, MENA Rosa, the first regional network of Women Living with HIV (WLHIV) in the MENA Region, conducted several trainings and workshops targeting directly its focal points and members; these trainings focused on several subjects, included but not limited to: treatment literacy, gender norms and equality, leadership, advocacy, negotiation and communication skills, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), mental health, etc.
To tackle this issue, in 2021, under the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM) grant “HIV: Sustainability of Services for Key Population in MENA region”, Nadoum Programme, in which MENAHRA is as Sub Recipient (SR); MENA Rosa, a Sub-Sub-Recipient (SSR), has drafted a treatment literacy informative toolkit in English and Arabic, that aims to expand the quality care, treatment, support and prevention services to reach Women Living with and affected by HIV, their children and families.
In alignment with Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MIPA) principles, which aims to recognize the rights and responsibilities of People Living with HIV (PLHIV), including their right to self-esteem and participation in decision-making, MENA Rosa in November and December 2022, conducted a 4-days Training on the Treatment Literacy Toolkit, in Jordan and Egypt. The training’s primary goal was to evaluate and update the toolkit mentioned above, as well as educate MENA Rosa’s focal points and members on the importance of treatment adherence, and equip the focal points and members with the knowledge, skills, and actions needed to address issues on treatment, stigma and peer support to become positive agents of change.
This Toolkit is in line with the 95-95-95 UNAIDS objective: MENA Rosa’s Focal Points will be able to disseminate acquired information during their local outreach intervention with the Key Populations (KPs).
MENA Rosa’s Focal Points, members, WLHIV from different cities in both countries (Jordan: Amman, Zarqa; Egypt: Alexandria, Minya, Cairo), Sudanese refugees (in Egypt), and outreach workers participated in the ToT; they shared personal stories, and most importantly commented and provided feedback on the Toolkit.
During these trainings, MENA Rosa partnered with local CSOs and key stakeholders – in Egypt: with National Aids Program (NAP), UNAIDS, Friends Association in Minya and Sohati men Biati in Giza – in Jordan: with Forearms of Change Center to Enable Community (FOCCEC) and the Voluntary Counseling and Testing center (VCT).
These conducted trainings emphasized the importance of interchanging experiences and encouraging frequent communication among WLHIV; enabling enhanced support to each other.
In 2023, under this grant, MENA Rosa will implement the same training: one in Morocco and one in Tunisia.
WLHIV can serve as agents of change in their communities; MENA Rosa’s is empowering them with all the information, knowledge, capacities, and skills required to raise and spread awareness and accurate information; and minimize misconceptions about HIV.
