In response to the growing awareness of the links between SGBV, health, human rights and national development in East and Southern Africa, the Population Council with support from the Swedish-Norwegian Regional HIV and AIDS Team for Africa and PEPFAR initiated a multi-country SGBV network. This network includes 17 partners in 9 African countries: Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Senegal and Ethiopia. These partners are simultaneously implementing SGBV projects that seek to address the determinants and consequences of SGBV in an integrated and comprehensive manner and to strengthen national programmes to better meet the medical, psychological and justice needs of survivors of sexual and domestic violence and to enhance strategies for its prevention.  All partners are working to operationalize a comprehensive model of care, support and prevention of SGBV.

Lessons learned from these experiences are being systematically documented and synthesized to offer a policy framework and implementation guidelines that will be relevant for others seeking to strengthen programmes throughout the region. These lessons and guidelines will be widely shared with other regional and international networks, organizations and governments that would benefit from such information projects.  Please contact Lucy Ng'ang'a lnganga@popcouncil.org if you would like to receive periodic updates on the network's activities.

• Online Discussion: Improving effectiveness of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

  The Population Council is hosting an online discussion on the SVRI Online Discussion Forum from November 08 to May 09. The purpose of this discussion is to allow development practitioners to share information on best practices on administering PEP and emerging trends and lessons. Through this discussion we would like to explore the following:
  
  1. How do we ensure survivors adhere to PEP?
  2. What is the ideal regimen to give to survivors?
  3. What are the most appropriate doses for children?
  4. What follow-up strategies to enhance adherence to PEP are required?
  5. In what ways can communities be involved to help improve PEP adherence?
  6. How can advocacy strategies be applied to improve PEP adherence?

  If you are not already a member of the SVRI Online Discussion Forum click here to register and join the discussion: http://www.svri.org/forums/

• Lessons learned on providing PEP for SGBV in Africa (pdf format, 533 kb)

• Lessons learned on SGBV in Africa (pdf format, 426 kb)
• Key Issues for Programming (pdf format, 510 kb)
• Africa Regional Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Network Consultation: Technical Exchange and Planning Meeting (pdf format, 914 kb)
• Literature Review (pdf format, 1254kb)
  
• Online discussion forum (SVRI)