African Broadcasters Join Forces to use 2010 Soccer World Cup to Drive Major New African HIV-Prevention Initiative

New continent-wide HIV-prevention initiative harnessing Africa’s passion for soccer combines a sustained media campaign with community-level outreach and education programs using soccer to promote healthy living and responsible choices among African youth.

Fifty-nine public and private African broadcast media companies with a prospective audience in excess of 200 million have committed airtime and production resources to support a special continent-wide HIV prevention drive capitalizing on the excitement surrounding the first African Soccer World Cup. Using the tagline Football For an HIV-Free Generation this new pan-African initiative uses soccer as the entry point for an evidence based strategy that draws on best practice for HIV prevention, youth communication and sports for development.

The unprecedented pan-African coalition of broadcast companies operating as the African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (ABMP) is committed to developing and broadcasting HIV/AIDS-related programming in association with 2010 broadcasts and to sustaining the campaign across their general daily program schedules as well. The media campaign will be anchored by public service announcements for radio and TV which will launch on World AIDS Day (December 1, 2008), and will be reinforced by longer form programming including the popular Imagine Afrika reality show, as well as talk and magazine shows.

The Football for an HIV-Free Generation initiative uses media as the bridge to community-level outreach programs for youth including educational, leadership and life skills development. This effort aims to:

• Help accelerate reductions in the rate of HIV infection among young Africans;
• Re-engage young people across Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS;
• Help boost leadership and increased country-level focus and funding of more concerted large scale HIV-prevention across Africa.

UNAIDS Executive Director, Dr. Peter Piot said: “Soccer offers an exciting platform for intensifying HIV prevention efforts across Africa helping promote self esteem and supporting the development of protective communication and life skills. Combining soccer with community based programmes and intensive media outreach will give a welcome boost to ongoing HIV prevention work on the continent and will be particularly powerful in the months building up to the first World Cup to be hosted in Africa.”

By building on the existing expertise and infrastructure of established organizations and local partners, this initiative will use a large-scale pan-African approach to mobilize youth across the continent in support of the goal of an HIV-free generation. This will be achieved through a three-pronged strategy that includes:

Community Based Model: Community-based outreach and services component will build on the successful models developed by Grassroots Soccer and loveLife that use soccer as a tool for HIV prevention education. The initiative will expand through a social franchising model partnering with and using peer motivation and youth leadership development to build the capacity of existing local community-based organizations. An initial focal point of the initiative will be to support the educational content of the Football For Hope Centers that are being donated in 15 African countries as part of FIFA’s 20 Centres for 2010 Campaign.

Sustained Media Campaign: Implemented in partnership with the African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (ABMP)—a pan-African coalition of 59 broadcast companies operating across 37 countries—the media campaign will build on the commitment of airtime and other resources from the broadcast companies to develop media programming that connects with the synergies of the 2010 World Cup, as well as the ABMP’s existing campaign promoting the concept of an HIV-free Generation.

Advocacy, Partnership and Resource Development: Evidence shows that resources for effective HIV prevention are severely lacking. A concerted advocacy campaign to promote new leadership in support of more concerted HIV prevention and increased resources (in-country and international) will be driven by UNAIDS and CSI+ with the aim of encouraging scaled up prevention across Africa.

For more information go to www.broadcasthivafrica.org and www.F4hivfree.org

ABMP Holds 4th Annual Executive Summit Commits to New HIV-Drive Linked to 2010 Soccer World Cup

Meeting at the 4th Annual Executive Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa top executives from more than 55 public and private African media companies pledged to step up their contribution of airtime and other resources in support of a stepped up HIV-prevention campaign linked to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Organized under the tagline Football for an HIV-free Generation, this new effort will combine media and community outreach programs using soccer as the hook for engaging young people in healthy lifestyle programs.

The first soccer-themed public service ad in the campaign can be viewed by clicking here.  

Delivering her annual report, ABMP Steering Committee Chair, Joyce Mhaville, highlighted member company’s continued and increased commitment of air-time and programming resources in support of the ABMP. Ms. Mhaville presented the results of the 2008 annual scorecard report, a survey of member companies carried out each year to track progress toward achieving the goals and objectives of the ABMP. According to her report, over the past 3 years, member companies have steadily stepped up their HIV broadcast program content and for 2008 alone there has been an increase by 14% of member companies’ daily daytime airtime dedicated to HIV communication and programming. (To see table tracking increasing commitment over the past three years click here.)

Substantial increases in not only the quantity of HIV/AIDS-related programming but also the quality of programming among ABMP member companies was verified by a recently completed independent audit of a sample of member companies.

Ms. Mhaville, who is the Managing Director of Tanzania Independent Television/Radio One, also spoke on the success of the first seasons of the Imagine Afrika television reality show and the radio edu-drama series, Can Tru Luv Withstand the Test? “Imagine Afrika has been highly rated for the quality and entertainment value of the production” she said. Both shows have succeeded in building significant increases in target 18-35 years audience.

The radio soap operas have also been “very well received by the broadcasters and they believe the soap drama format is an effective way to communicate about HIV/AIDS.” These programs have established a substantive platform for the YOU campaign and the plan is to sustain both programs for at least another season. Imagine Afrika season 2 is currently being aired on member television stations.

In keynote remarks to the Executive Summit, former Botswana president, Festus Mogae, appealed to the executives to use the power of the media to more effectively involve African leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS saying: “You can use your power to advocate for more resources and direct involvement of the top leadership. You have influence to mobilise public opinion in support of increased leadership involvement in HIV prevention efforts.”

The former President, who is leading a new effort “Champions for an AIDS-free Generation” to mobilize fresh leadership in support of increased HIV prevention efforts, emphasized the importance of the media, adding “Broadcasting, particularly radio, remains the most effective and cheapest medium of mass communication in Africa because of its wide coverage.” He commended the ABMP for its campaign targeting the youth because “Our hope of an AIDS-Free Africa rests on winning the hearts and minds of our youth. I commend you for this campaign because young people are the future of this continent.”

Exposure to Media AIDS communication interventions indirectly impacts HIV prevention behaviours. So says recent USAID/Hopkins Study

A recent study has shown that exposure to HIV prevention media campaigns focusing on interventions to avert or delay HIV infections have an indirect impact on prevention efforts and need to be complemented with greater interpersonal communication.

The USAID-funded study, which was undertaken by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Centre for Communication Programs (JHU-CCP) and the Centre for AIDS Development Research and Evaluation (CADRE), re-analysed the 2005 HSRC/Nelson Mandela Foundation Population household survey and examined if prevention works by estimating the number of HIV infections that may have been averted by means of HIV prevention practices and the extent to which exposure to national level mass media AIDS communication programs may have contributed to prevention behaviours.

The study found that 78% in the adult sample that have had sex and were tested for HIV were aware of one or more communication programme. The strongest determinant of awareness of these programmes was frequency of watching television, along with frequency of listening to the radio, reading newspapers, participation in community meetings, and any level of formal education.

The report highlights that in order for prevention efforts to have even greater effect, it is required that these prevention efforts focus on: • partner reduction as there are still low levels of risk perceptions and lower levels of condom usage with partners • alcohol, sex and HIV. The report finds that persons who drink more are more inclined to have higher numbers of sexual partners and less likely to use condoms correctly and consistently.

Copies of this publication are available by contacting:
Richard Delate Country Programme Director (Communication)
Johns Hopkins Health and Education, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)12 366 9300
Fax: +27 (0) 12 366 9301
Email: info@jhuccp.co.za
Website: www.jhhesa.org.za

For a Summary of the report, click here
For the Full report, click here

Public Opinion and HIV/AIDS: Facing Up to the Future?

HIV/AIDS and the Public Agenda Even though AIDS has touched the lives of large proportions of Africans, it has yet to register very high on what the authors of this report call the “people’s agenda.”

The Afrobarometer is a research project that measures public attitudes on economic, political, and social matters in sub-Saharan Africa.

In this briefing paper, published in April 2004, the research organization finds that despite exposure to the pandemic, “ordinary Africans have not yet grasped its full collective social, economic or political significance. Poor people demote AIDS to a low priority problem behind more immediately pressing concerns like jobs or hunger. Citizens are undecided about whether their governments should divert scarce resources from these and other important priorities to fight the AIDS epidemic in their country.”

Click here to access the full Briefing Paper

Click here to see other Briefing Papers in this series

The Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Fund for Journalists Applying for the 2009 Fellowship Program

Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Fund accepts applications from journalists of the developing nations of Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean to cover the United Nations General Assembly beginning in September each year. The fellowships offer a unique opportunity for promising young journalists from developing countries to see the United Nations at work and to report on its proceedings for news media in their home countries. Over the past 46 years, fellowships have been awarded to almost 200 journalists from the developing world. These awards require the presence of the selected journalist in New York during the first few months of the General Assembly session and should be regarded as an opportunity for news organizations and journalists to provide their audiences with special assignment news coverage from U.N. headquarters.

Successful applicants must obtain a leave of absence from their employers. By endorsing the application of a staff journalist for a fellowship, the editor undertakes to meet all telephone or other transmission charges and to publish or broadcast copy filed by the reporter. Applicants must be full-time, professional journalists between 25 and 35 years old, be employed by a recognized print, radio, television, or internet media organization, and have a good working knowledge of English.

The Fund will provide: round-trip airfare to New York; accommodations; health insurance for the duration of the fellowship, and a daily allowance to cover food and other necessities. The Fund will not be responsible for other expenses of personal nature, such as telephone calls. There are some very basic requirements for applying for a fellowship that need to be emphasized. Be sure to fill out ALL sections of the application including fax, e-mail and phone numbers. Your application WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED unless all items listed on the requirements page are included.

Learn more

The Association of Journalists Against Aids in Tanzania was formed by journalists concerned with the unabated spread of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania. It combines efforts of journalists who seek to sharpen their journalistic expertise and knowledge on HIV/AIDS and to ultimately conquer the war against the virus as well as social, economical and political factors that feed it. The association has the priority objectives and aims of:-

• Stepping up through writing (Newspapers/Newsletters) and speaking (Radio, TV programmes) the already existing campaign for people to asbtain from wanton and unsafe sex.
• Engaging public to public dialogue on issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS starting from community levels.
• Campaigning for availability of care, treatment and support of people living with or affected with HIV and AIDS.
• Concerning itself with concerted journalistic efforts to ensure behavioral change in order to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• Playing a networking role to bring together journalists aspiring to join a worldwide campaign against HIV/AIDS.
• Promoting a professional debate on matters related to HIV/AIDS pandemic.
• Working and supplementing through dissemination, publicity and advocacy efforts by such organizations and institutions like the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS), National AIDS Control programme – (NACP), the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS – (UNDP/UNAIDS), USAID as well as other local and international groups and individuals working against HIV/AIDS.

Learn more about AJAAT by visiting their website

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