Nothing Without Us Society

As part of the key population, I believe you cannot change what you avoid and a new perspective is all it takes for change to be inevitable especially when it comes to easy access of services by key population because people are not defined by what they do or their lifestyle. Im passionate about key population and it is great to trust and respect how a community wants to take action for itself, creating agency and power in people particularly key population. Promoting transparency and participation in my country, important area battlefronts for HIV are not adequately covered in part because of culture and social norms which in turn constrain progressive policy and legislative action like homosexuality, sex in prisons and commercial sex work. These are challenging areas because the law inspired by society’s values and systems prohibits both same sex relation and sex work. So my organisation strive to address those battlefront as its mission is to advocate for and facilitate community dialogue and participation in the provision of health services among high-risk population and the elevate prize will make it possible.

I train, educate and facilitate on key population and HIV prevention strategies or their innovative integrated packages. As the PrEP ambassador of the Botswana im part of platforms that involves mass dissemination of information and decision making in health services tailored for key population. I manage support groups for PrEP and ART clients especially sex workers. As a counsellor i help out in national campaigns with HIV rapid testing and counselling. I get to be invited for panel discussions in connection to key population and PrEP.I have worked in several health project (MARPS,LINKAGES and EPICjust to name a few) that were tailored to key population and have helped over 2000 key population.What i have realised over the years is that key population just need someone to listen,relate,be open minded and non judgemental and they will let you into their world so you can help them.They are their own solution and my purpose is to absorb all of that and run with as they guide me through.My organisation is a women led which hope one day it will be financially sustainable,have diverse partnerships,collaborations and wish to build recreation centre for GBV key population victims.

According to the 2nd behavioral and biological surveillance survey (BBSS) of HIV/STI among key population, overall HIV prevalence among female sexworkers (FSW) and men who have sex with men(MSM) was 42.8% and 14.8% respectively.There was a significant decline in HIV prevelance among FSW in Francistown from 53.5% in BBSS 1 to 37% in BBSS 2 and an increase from 11.7% to 24.4% for MSM.99% of FSW are reported taking ARVs,Consistent correct condom use decline among FSW and MSM from 79.5% to 71.2%,65.9% to 60.2% respectively.As both key population saw themswelves as high risk,STI prevelance increased by 7%. There is low intake of health services by key population because of stigma, discrimination, law inspired by society’s values and systems prohibits both same sex relation and sex work. My organisation addressed specific needs of key population by creating demand for clinical services,human rights, peer education, support groups and distribution of HIV prevention commodities.

Our programming focuses on engaging communities and key populations to inspire change that is needed. Our staff have worked KP health projects for years and have experience in working with them.The best people in our team,our backbone are our field workers who are key population themselves make implementation and KP programming a success. They identify and tap into their networks for their peers to access services. We are target orientated and we love a challenge.We are good at putting a human face to a problem as a solution to make it more relatable.I really do have an incredible team that work hard and play hard.....as our motto goes  "Be part of an informed choice"

We promote sexual and reproductive health of key populations, ensuring equitable access to health services and dissemination of information in the community. We educate the community on matters of key population within the context of HIV/AIDS, assist in the propagation of information and interventions that are tailored to the specific needs of the key populations. We support public health policies by demonstrating how key population needs can be incorporated and be part of integrated services provided without prejudice, in a human- right centered approach. We establish and scale-up innovative, community-led services, while expanding the integration and options for key populations within the health system. We vindicate for key population regarding violence against them through sustainable prevention programmes by integrating violence prevention and response services into the national key population program. These are effective because we use community focused strategies such as demand creation for key population,focus discussions,support groups, peer navigation, violence prevention, advocacy, community sensitization and mobilisation. Our field workers are part of key population network for easy identification, accountability and ownership.