Caroline Majonga @launch of Zimbabwe's national OneLove Campaign on 3/06/09
Every single individual has a responsibility to protect themselves and the people they love, says Caroline Majonga, the programme manager of Action, a health communication and development NGO in Zimbabwe.
Action is a regional partner in the OneLove Campaign. Zimbabwe launched its national OneLove Campaign on Wednesday 3rd June at the Meikles Hotel in Harare.
Caroline said:
OneLove is an HIV prevention campaign that seeks to decrease the practice of Multiple and concurrent partnerships with the purpose of communicating to all that it is possible to have a relationship that is both emotionally and sexually fulfilling with one person.
This campaign challenges gender stereotypes and cultural norms and promotes positive behaviour with out blaming people for engaging in their risky sexual behaviours.
OneLove is a campaign that will raise awareness about the risks of Multiple and Concurrent Sexual Partners in particular the dangers of sexual networks.
This campaign will also get us to discuss, debate about and challenge harmful cultural practices that put us at greater risk of HIV infection and it will get us to talk and think more carefully about some of the our sexual choices and practices.
The Onelove campaign will use mass media in the form of print, radio, television and internet to communicate these messages. We realize that for behaviour change to take place mass media alone will not have desired outcome the Campaign will also be using various social mobilization and advocacy interventions targeted at the general public to communicate the messages more effectively for more impact.
Why MCP is a focus of HIV Prevention
Many people may be wondering… why are we focusing on MCPs why now? Evidence shows that most HIV infections occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, with most of those infections occurring in the SADC region.
By engaging in MCPs, we expose ourselves to greater risks of HIV infection through the sexual networks that develop as a result.
According to UNAIDS the HIV prevalence rate in this region is estimated at almost 11% compared to the global average of just 1%, confirming that the region, indeed, remains the worst affected.
In spite of rigorous efforts to address this pandemic there has been a sturdy increase in the HIV Prevalence rate in this Region over the past 20 years.
In May 2006, A SADC Think Tank meeting in Maseru, Lesotho, identified multiple and concurrent partnerships (MCPs) by men and women with low inconsistent condom use, and in the context of low levels of male circumcision as key drivers of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa.
Following this meeting, A SADC Regional Consultation on Social Change Communication for HIV Prevention was held in Swaziland in October of that same year.
It was recommended that MCP reduction be a key focus of social change communication interventions in Southern Africa over the next 5 years.
And as such Action as part of a regional initiative in partnership with Soul City is working towards seeing a decline in the number of people that engage in Multiple and Concurrent Relationships in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa as a whole.
Be part of the campaign
In 2007 Action, Soul City and the rest of the regional partners embarked on a formative research to establish some of the reasons why people engaged in MCPs.
The research revealed that the reasons for engaging in MCPs across the region were similar. All of the countries sited dissatisfaction within the main relationship, culture and gender imbalances as some of the main reasons for MCPs.
Following these findings it was agreed that a regional campaign simultaneously with local interventions on reducing MCPs across all the countries in the Regional Programme would be a coordinated and effective way of dealing with this issue.
The first country, Lesotho, launched its local country campaign in October last year and Tanzania, South Africa and Swaziland have since launched and today Zimbabwe is launching its own.
Working together
Action recognizes the contribution of all the partners that we have been working with so far, AIDS knows no boundaries, it does not discriminate against gender, race, age or economic standing and it needs one united coordinated response to successfully address it.
I would particularly like to thank our National AIDS Council as the coordinator for fully supporting this campaign, as well as out other partners namely UNFPA, SAFAIDS, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and ZAPSO as well as others I have not mentioned here.
Every single individual has a responsibility to protect themselves and the people they love.
I would like to urge everyone in Zimbabwe to be part of the OneLove campaign in one way or another and together we can have victory over HIV and AIDS
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[...] Caroline Majonga Outlines National OneLove Campaign in ZimbabweAll of the countries sited dissatisfaction within the main relationship, culture and gender imbalances as some of the main reasons for MCPs. Following these findings it was agreed that a regional campaign simultaneously with local … [...]
[...] have been identified by both UNAIDS and regional leaders as one of the key drivers – along with inconsistent condom use and low levels of male [...]