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In Southern Africa, adolescent girls and young women (ages 15-24) make up a disproportionate number of new HIV infections compared to their male peers. In order to become AIDS-free, it is critical to prevent new infections in this key population. This study explores biological and social vulnerabilities young women face in relation to HIV, including engagement in transactional sex, limited education, and amplified effects of transmission.…

Many adolescents and young women in Zambia are faced with economic and social barriers, lack of access to health care, and gender-based violence which increase their risk for unwanted pregnancy, HIV, and school drop outs. The AGEP curriculum was developed to teach girls to build strong support networks, increase knowledge around reproductive health, and develop their decision-making and negotiation skills. This low-resource manual provides…

The 2014 UNAIDS Report highlights the gender-based discrimination adolescent girls and young women face worldwide in relation to HIV. It uses population-level data to discuss issues of gender-based violence, lack of access to education and health services, and legal barriers which often lead to increased vulnerabilities of HIV infection. 

This guidebook aims to inform health policy makers and program planners on how to establish PrEP as an effective prevention method for adolescent girls and young women. This includes addressing the delivery platforms, marketing, regulations, demand, and use of PreP for this population. 

Although the HIV epidemic in Ethiopia has declined tremendously, the most vulnerable populations of young people still affected are adolescent girls and young women, specifically, married girls living in urban slums. This report focuses on three programs in Ethiopia that engage girls and aim to reduce their risk of infection through mentorship, education, engagement of men, and links to health services. 

This manual was designed by a resource group of young women leaders from nine countries, focusing on critical issues of HIV/AIDS, sexual health, self-esteem, violence against women, and more. The objective of this manual is to facilitate trainings and use engaging workshops to successfully teach young women ways to empower themselves and act on key issues that affect their livelihood and well-being. Training material on HIV and AIDS can be…

This paper discusses the links between education, gender equality, HIV prevention, and sexual and reproductive health. It acknowledges that these connections are widely recognized and utilized in public health programming, but that there is also a need for more combined efforts to design programs to ensure these links better reinforce one another and work more effectively to create an enabling environment for girls to prosper.  …

In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa the prevalence of HIV is disproportionately high for young women (ages 15-24). A 15-session classroom based program was developed by the Department of Education to teach adolescent boys and girls (ages 14-17) about HIV and pregnancy prevention using gender-transformative curriculum. This evaluation looks at changes in condom use, partner communication, gender beliefs, and efficacy to refuse unsafe sex pre and…

This brief highlights why it is important for girls to stay in school, and how poor educational status is highly correlated with HIV infection. A range of interventions to address this issue are given, as well as key questions to consider when advocating for girls’ rights to education. 

This article can be accessed on-line here.

The purpose of this report is to guide policymakers, planners, implementers of HIV prevention programs to understand the risk of HIV for adolescent girls and young women, learn how to create and deliver effective responses, and address policy and structural changes in order to create ways to break unequal gender norms and make positive changes towards reducing the burden of HIV for adolescent girls and women.  

This extensive toolkit developed by EngenderHealth after conducting a needs assessment of program staff working in local and district levels in South Africa. The assessment revealed that levels of training varied among staff members and training opportunities were rare. There were large gaps in the knowledge around gender and youth in relation to HIV, which is why this training module was developed. There are 8 modules which provide training…

As the recognition towards the disproportionate female-to-male infection ratio is being recognized, more programs around gender and HIV are being developed. However, this paper argues that many of these programs do not have specific target audiences, content, or evaluation plans. This paper reviews 63 well-known HIV and Gender programs and evaluates their attribution to gender inequities, selected target populations, measurement of results,…

This formative research report aimed to generate ideas for programs and services to support adolescent girls living with HIV in Zambia in transition to adulthood. The findings and recommendations are reported by ecological levels: individual, interpersonal, and organizational.

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) developed a participatory research action project in Tanzania to understand and address HIV-risk among adolescent girls and young women. The program centered around a life-skills manual, teaching girls about their rights, roles in society, and how to address their needs within their communities. This report goes into detail about the rigorous research methods used for monitoring and…

This booklet responds to relevant, often sensitive questions asked by young women living with HIV. It provides factual and helpful information on how to maintain healthy relationships, practice safe sex, prepare for pregnancy, and seek support networks.

This review analyzed 150 studies of HIV programming for adolescent girls from 2001-2013. The objective was to use these evaluations to make suggestions around creating enabling environments for girls, increasing information and service needs, and providing social support. Areas with little evidence-based programming are also discussed, as well as how to move forward in developing strong frameworks to address the needs of adolescent girls…

Drought exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern could lead to a spike in new HIV infections in southern Africa as women and girls turn to sex to survive and patients miss treatments, the United Nations children’s' agency UNICEF said. Read full article here.

A recently released study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome has shown that “HIV testing and treatment should be prioritized to target young people and women, while novel strategies are necessary to reach men.” Read full article here.

An increasing prevalence of male circumcision among Ugandan communities, has been linked to a fall in the number of HIV infections. The practice, in conjunction with more HIV-positive women being given antiretroviral drugs, has brought about 'significant declines' in the disease, new research suggests. The two interventions, observed in rural Ugandan communities, were successful in tightly controlled clinical trials, and have 'real-world…