What do We Know Do We really Know

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What do We Know?Do We really Know?

• Association for Comprehensive Health and
  Citizenship in Latin America and the Caribbean

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Luis Fernando LealExecutive DirectorColombian
League Against AIDSMember of ASICAL Network
since 1997Coordinator Knowledge Management
Areadirector_at_ligasida.orghttp//www.asical.org
http//www.ligasida.org
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What do We know? Agenda (Joseph do not be
worry! It will be 10 min)

• Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
  environment, diverse and full of contrast
• ASICAL within the LAC environment
• Facing the future

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Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
environment, diverse and full of contrast

• What do We know Poverty and illiteracy
• In the same region you can jump from heaven to
  hell anytime
• For example in Mexico
• Pioneers with a law against all type of
  discrimination
• Our own answers avoid global pressures Campaign
  against machismo and homophobia
• a national program that gets important funds that
  may run out talking about scaling up?
• The world looks at them as mid-high income
  country meaning that they dont qualify for
  Global Fund
• The visibility projects have caused a reaction
  out of proportion by part of the rightist sector,
  up to the point of killing and persuading some
  homosexual leaders .

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Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
environment, diverse and full of contrast

• In Central America, they even propose (or
  approve) constitutional restrictions to forbid
  the gathering of same sex couples. i.e.
  Honduras
• A true independence doesnt exist in these
  countries referred to the ABC Strategy
• In the Caribbean they try to hide by every
  possible mean the epidemic profile of gay men,
  bisexuals, and transgender
• Homophobia gets out of proportion Jamaicas
  example
• Poverty, corruption and radical governments
  become obstacles that destroy any effort

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Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
environment, diverse and full of contrast

• In Latin America, the differences are determined
  by many variables
• Seroprevalences (between the 12 and the 16 in
  general, but it could be worst 20 in Guayaquil)
  
• Numbers are very dangerous some times

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Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
environment, diverse and full of contrast

• Just think about this
• If the half of you did not have any meal today
  and the other half had a complete, healthy and
  balanced breakfast and lunch for the statistics
  Every one of you already had at least a 0,5 meal
  today
• ?

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Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
environment, diverse and full of contrast

• In Latin America, the differences are determined
  by many variables
• Seroprevalences (between the 12 and the 16 in
  general, but it could be worst 20 in Guayaquil,
  Ecuador)
• Numbers are very dangerous some times
• Cultural influence, added up with religious
  influence (Catholic), Machismo, and Homophobia
• Public resources investment in MSM prevention,
  Bogotás exampleLambda Project
• Constitutional protection of diversity and civil
  rights of LGBT community, Example Ecuador,
  Progressive laws Projects in Brasil, Colombia
• Global Fund Access, to be or not to be, eligible
  and non eligible
• Political trends Chile, Bolivia, Brasil,
  Venezuela y Argentina vs Peru, Ecuador,
  Colombia
• Available Free trade agreements

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Latin America and the Caribbean a complex
environment, diverse and full of contrast

• In Latin America, the differences are determined
  by many variables
• In the best of the situations when certain
  attention is placed in the MSM problematic, it is
  not within a scope from state Policies, It is
  made through actions punctual from local or
  national governments
• The MSM term is politically accepted for who?,
  does it work for making a program sustainable?

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ASICAL within the LAC environment

• ASICAL is a response that promotes and develops
  strategies and actions of prevention, attention
  and support on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights in Gay
  men and other men having sex with men, and in
  this way contributes to improve the life quality
  in the region.

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ASICAL within the LAC environment

• We believe
• Comprehensive approach
• it is not enough to simply hold a series of
  behavioural interventions for the target
  population
• We must build up the capacity of local
  organizations to guarantee the scaling up
• An approach that addresses five key areas

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ASICAL within the LAC environment

• Key areas
• Development and sustentability of the
  Organizations to contribute to the community
  response
• Targeted Interventions
• Advocacy and Supportive Environments
• Education and Knowledge Management
• Monitoring and Evaluation

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Development and sustentability of the
Organizations

• To implement interventions, its vital gtgt the
  creation and strengthening of organizations and
  networks(organizations that work with gay men,
  transgender people, bisexuals and other MSM,
  especially with young people, in health and
  citizenship, and to similar organizations as well
  )

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Development and sustentability of the
Organizations

• Somos Brasil
• 300 NGOs, 292 municipalities, 27 states, 11 CCAs,
  12 sub-CCAs
• Crefor Argentina
• Communitary approach. Argentina version of SOMOS
• Since 2000, initial budget 20.000 dollars, now
  they are 34 NGOs working in 14 states (Argentina
  has 24) without any governmental support
• P.A.G.A.
• Follow-on to previous project A.C.A.T.
  (Advocacy, Capacity-building and Technical
  Support)
• 100 leaders, 100 Organizations
• Strategic Planning
• Global Fund Regional Proposal (including Mexico,
  Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Uruguay,
  Perú)

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Targeted Interventions

• To scale up community based organizations
  prevention models
• Ensure that sufficient capacity building and
  technical support is provided
• For existing and newly formed organizations that
  work with gay men and other MSM
• SP includes training on how to design and
  implement effective behavior change programs
• Ongoing technical support for implementation

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Targeted Interventions

• Knowledge management strategies used to maintain
  capacities
• Systematized and evaluated experience and
  supplies obtained for the necessary modifications
• Prevention Moving from just in case to just in
  time
• Interactive technics including Web, Kiosks,
  crazy ideas why not?????
• Safer sex must not be boring

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Targeted Interventions

• Examples
• P2P strategy
• What you see is what you get safer sex videos
• KAP, research instruments, knowledge management
  strategy
• Every day We have the possibility to access more
  and more information, but, we want less and very
  relevant info for our KMS
• www.bogotagay.com
• Interactive safer sex kiosk

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Targeted Interventions
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Advocacy and Supportive Environments

• Strategic Plan charts training and technical
  support activities on advocacy, citizenship,
  human rights, supportive environments and other
  key topics.

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Advocacy and Supportive Environments

• It is very important to identify, systematize and
  spread lessons learned (successful and
  unsuccessful) on HIV/AIDS, advocacy and gay men,
  transgender people and other men having sex with
  men in Latin America and the Caribbean
• To train and give technical support to different
  organizations in the execution of Advocacy
  activities with gay men and other MSM in LAC
• To advocate in the human rights international
  system in the area of stigma and discrimination
  related to HIV/AIDS in gay men, transgender
  people and other MSM in Latin America and the
  Caribbean

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Facing the future...

• Estimate the size of the population
• KAP surveys including seroprevalence and
  incidence(number of new cases of HIV infection)
• Qualitative research
• Scaling up SOMOS and CREFOR experiences
• Help to building up REAL and OPERATIVE networks
  (local level, national level, regional level, WW
  level)

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Facing the future...

• Facing the future with successful experiences
  that may be done over again available for the
  scaling up

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Thank you!