The Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) Programme is funded by the Global Fund and offers an age-tailored combination prevention package for adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 25.

 

The programme targets AGYW, in and out of school, in 12 sub-districts across the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State, Limpopo, Gauteng and Western Cape. MIET AFRICA was appointed to implement prevention programmes by the three Global Fund primary recipients in the following areas: AIDS Foundation of South Africa (AFSA): Zululand Abaqulusi Sub-district, KZN; Beyond Zero: Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Health Sub-district, Eastern Cape; and National AIDS Convention of South Africa (NACOSA): Tshwane Sub-district, Gauteng. The programme started on 1 April 2019 and will run until 31 March 2022.

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Services aim to effect risk reduction, behaviour change and empowerment. The grant is aligned with South Africa’s National Support Plan, which prioritizes AGYW aged 15 to 24, tracking indicators on new infections, condom use, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and gender-based violence (GBV).

The programme has four objectives:

  • Increase retention in school
  • Decrease HIV incidence
  • Decrease teenage pregnancy
  • Increase economic opportunities

The package of services for prevention programmes for adolescent girls and young women is offered through the following service-delivery modalities:

  • Modality 1: Comprehensive biomedical services to AGYW and ABYM delivered in in-school and out-of-school locales.
  • Modality 2: School-based interventions (targeting high school girls and boys) is directed at high school learners only. The in-school programme is structured according to core, layered and other services. AGYW can access layered services while they are in school through the biomedical services (if allowed) as well as after school hours as part of the Modality 3 programmes. The in-school programme is also be supported by a whole-school development component.
  • Modality 3: Programmes targeting out-of-school and after-school AGYW and ABYM (adolescent boys and young men), as well as offering targeted community-based interventions, focused on changing norms among men, boys, parents and caregivers, as well as raising awareness of GBV.
  • Modality 4: Services to Higher Education Institutions (targeting youth at universities and TVET colleges).
  • Modality 5: Public Private Mix approaches targeting male sexual partners of AGYW.

The programme is measured using four core indicators:

  • Percentage of AGYW reached with HIV prevention programmes (defined package)
  • Number of AGYW who were tested for HIV and received their results during the reporting period
  • Percentage of AGYW using PrEP
  • Percentage of newly diagnosed people linked to HIV care (individual linkage)