Rwanda | ICRH

To introduce HIV education on larger scale, it is necessary to know which programmes are effective in reducing sexual risk behavior in young people and which programmes generate only few results. A large problem in evaluating programs is that sexual behavior cannot be observed directly and that it is influenced by a large variety of determinants. The main objectives of this project are to development a theoretical model of the determinants of sexual risk behavious and to assess the utility and effectiveness of this model in HIV prevention programmes among children and youth in Rwanda.

During the last few years many governments and organisations have been financing and implementing HIV/AIDS prevention projects in sub-Sahara Africa. One of the methods used in HIV prevention that has known a steep upsurge is peer education.  The Rwandan Red Cross, with the support of the Belgian Red Cross, has used this methods in its programmes in Rwanda. Because of the succes, the Red Cross aims to scale-up its programme. In that context, research is needed to study the critical success or failure factors of this method.

The study prepares two sites (in Kigali and Mombasa) for Phase I, II and III clinical microbicide trials.

Education and training can play a vital role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. They can inform and empower children and youth and thereby have a direct impact on the evolution of the epidemic. Education and training can as well have an impact on society, by changing social norms, fighting stigma and discrimination or triggering economic development and thereby have an indirect impact on the evolution of HIV/AIDS. At the same time, the already under resourced and overcharged education systems in sub-Saharan Africa are also affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.