Jamaica

Action Media Workshops seek direct input from populations impacted by health interventions

C-Change conducted a series of Action Media workshops in Jamaica in November 2010 with men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers, and community educators to inform the development of SBCC resources to support and strengthen HIV prevention interventions with or by these populations. 

The report from this workshop highlight the challenges, gaps, and needs relating to communication around HIV. Participants played an active role and contributed to the development of ideas and concepts for communication materials. Based on their input, C-Change developed concepts using images, formats, and language preferred by participants. Workshop findings are summarized in a Report and are also informing  materials currently being developed for MSM and sex workers in Jamaica.

 Work in HIV Prevention with the Ministry of Health and Civil Society Groups

In July 2010, C-Change began working in Jamaica, in partnership with the government and civil society sector, to strengthen and scale up the HIV prevention response for most-at-risk populations (MARPs). MARPs include men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex workers (SW)—groups that are also vulnerable to human rights abuses.

C-Change aims to provide social and behavior change communication (SBCC) technical assistance to improve the quality and scale of Jamaica's current response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. C-Change is working closely with the Ministry of Health and civil society implementers at community, regional, and national levels and targeting policymakers as influencers of the programming environment. Meeting the HIV prevention needs of MSM and sex workers in an environment where they are vulnerable to human rights abuses are some of the program's challenges.

A key activity includes assessing and building the capacity of local NGOs to use SBCC in programming their HIV prevention activities. Working with local partners to harmonize the messages and materials that they develop for MARPs is another important activity. In November and December 2010, the project hosted workshops  that furthered these ends and introduced two participatory, consensus-building methodologies. (Read more about the workshop).