Participatory Research and Action as a Capacity Building Tool for Understanding and

Addressing Girls’ HIV-Related Vulnerabilities

Jennifer McCleary-Sills, PhD MPHSocial and Behavioral Scientist

International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) jmccleary-sills@icrw.orgXIX International AIDS Conference

July 24, 2012

ICRW’s Mission:To empower women, advance gender equality and fight poverty in the developing world. To accomplish this, ICRW works with partners to

conduct empirical research, build capacity and advocate for evidence-based, practical ways to

change policies and programs.

A project built on partnership:• ICRW: research methodology, qualitative

assessment, gender-responsive research and programming, Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods

• TAMASHA: community-based activism, programming, youth development, training expertise, peer education

• Vijana Tunaweza Newala (Vitu Newala): young people, roots in the community, energy and new ideas

Project OverviewSept 2009-Jan 2010:Partnerships establishedProtocol developed and

revised

January-July 2010: Ethical review and approvals

July 2010: Training of TAMASHA

researchersTraining of youth researchersPilot of PLA sessions

August 2010: Conducted participatory

formative research

Project Overview

October 2010: Intervention design

workshop with youth researchers and community stakeholders

October-November 2010:

Design program model (ICRW, TAMASHA, Vitu Newala, Pact Tz)

This presentation was made possible by the support of

ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action program.