The Scaling-Up Together We Can (TWC) project is a 5-year, $7 million abstinence and be faithful program that aims to reach 766,000 in and out-of-school youth ages 10-24 with curriculum, peer to peer, edutainment, and mass media based HIV prevention messages in Guyana, Haiti, and Tanzania. The program’s primary recipient, the American Red Cross, is responsible for providing funding and technical assistance to the project’s implementers, the Guyana, Haitian, and Tanzania Red Cross Societies.
Peer education, community and social mobilization, and capacity building for the national Red Cross societies are the primary TWC project strategies used to promote positive behavior change among youth. The peer education component of the project is based on the 17-activity Together We Can curriculum, which uses participatory techniques to empower youth with knowledge, attitudes, and skills relating to HIV/AIDS. The curriculum emphasizes abstinence, being faithful to one’s partner, and other healthy behaviors, including condom use for at-risk youth.
The project creates an enabling environment for youth behavior change by actively seeking the participation of parents, teachers, religious leaders, host-country government officials, NGO staff, and other community leaders. The American Red Cross and its sister Red Cross Societies in Guyana, Haiti, and Tanzania capitalize on the synergy of working at the individual and community level, ensuring a holistic, grassroots response to the HIV epidemic.
The project’s strategic objectives include strengthening HIV-related life skills for 10-24-year-old youth through the recruitment and training of peer educators, who in turn facilitate workshops, conduct peer-to-peer outreach, and participate in edutainment events. The project also focuses on improving the national Red Cross Societies’ ability to manage and expand youth HIV prevention projects through formal trainings, individual coaching, systems strengthening, and the dissemination of best practices.
In the fiscal year 2007, the project achieved significant results in Guyana, Haiti, and Tanzania. The total number of individuals trained was 155, exceeding the planned target of 129. The number of female youth (10-24) reached was 129,282, representing 123% of the planned target. The number of male youth (10-24) reached was 259,847, exceeding the planned target of 150%.
The project’s progress to date has been significant, with the total number of youth (10-24) reached exceeding 259,847, representing 150% of the planned target. The project’s strategic objectives have been achieved, with the strengthening of HIV-related life skills for 10-24-year-old youth through the recruitment and training of peer educators. The project’s focus on peer education, community and social mobilization, and capacity building has been successful in promoting positive behavior change among youth.
The project’s results have been impressive, with significant increases in the number of individuals trained, the number of female and male youth reached, and the total number of youth reached. The project’s focus on peer education, community and social mobilization, and capacity building has been successful in promoting positive behavior change among youth. The project’s progress to date has been significant, with the total number of youth (10-24) reached exceeding 259,847, representing 150% of the planned target.