Mobilizing communities for HIV prevention

Social movement strategies to engage and mobilize communities have been effective at reducing HIV transmission. Community-based interventions have made significant advancements in HIV prevention, including:

• decreasing discrimination against those who are HIV positive;
• raising the levels of HIV testing and counseling amongst young adults;
• improving access to program and service quality; and
• increasing the uptake of antiretroviral treatment to prevent transmission to non-infected partners.

Engaging and mobilizing communities – including members of stakeholder groups and civil society agencies – has been critical in taking collective action towards the goal of preventing HIV transmission. To be effective, communities were found to need the following three key components:

1. empowerment through elements, such as leadership, resources, program management and the support of external partners
2. development of having a collective or shared identity as a community
3. capacity in health promotion, including the development of knowledge and skills, available resources, civic engagement, values for change and a learning culture