By Jejje Muhinde;
Umurage Communication for Development (UmC) in partnership with UNAIDS-Rwanda have embarked on a social and behavior communications campaign that will focus on accelerating efforts to prevent new HIV/AIDS infections.
The campaign which is ongoing started from October 2019 until December 2019 in Kigali city’s three districts of Gasabo, Nyarugenge and Kicukiro.
Jean Bosco Kwizera, the resident representative of UmC Rwanda says that the NGO will embark on HIV/AIDS infections, eliminating stigma and discrimination, strengthening strategic partnerships targeting key and priority populations in Kigali City.
“The target for this project are the key populations, general and priority population in Kigali through radio programs -Umurage serial drama, radio spots, outreach campaign, social media and talk shows that will be aired through our successful “UMURAGE” drama and other SBCC activities” he explained.
Kwizera adds the campaign will also include a combination of different activities that include: Airing a radio serial drama of 20 episodes, radio and TV talk shows, and community outreach for youth, in schools and youth centers (Kimisagara and Kabuga).
The local Rwandan NGO which specializes in developing social behavior change through communication programs will also implement the campaign through, sports campaigns, the publication of online articles and epilogues, social media campaign targeting at least 10,000 youth and key populations besides Interpersonal Communication (IPC) activities.
On behalf of UNAIDS Rwanda, Trouble Chikoko the strategic information advisor urged UmC to also come up with innovative ways to reach out to the disable and impaired persons adding that it may take time but may lead to positives.
He noted that Rwanda has made success in the UNAIDS HIV/AIDS targets, as the only country that has registered the best statistics in the region.
Results from Rwanda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (RPHIA) shows that Kigali has the highest rate of HIV/AIDs prevalence among adults.
Rwandans aged 15-64 years, HIV prevalence stood at 4.3% in the City of Kigali and 2.2% in the Northern parts of the country according to a survey report conducted from October 2018 and March 2019.