Promoting Economic Advancement as a Pathway to Preventing HIV and Violence against Adolescent Girls and Young Women
By Betty Adera This month, as we observe International Women’s Day 2024, it is imperative to reflect on the multifaceted challenges that adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), aged 15 to 24, face. Under this year’s theme, Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress, we must consider how the intertwined issues of HIV/AIDS and violence halt their…
Read MoreEmpowering Young Men: The Crucial Role of Life Skills Education in Combating Gender-Based Violence
By Betty Adera and the Botswana Country Team In a world striving for equality and justice, it is imperative to recognize education’s pivotal role in shaping future generations’ attitudes and behaviors. One of the key battlegrounds against gender-based violence lies within the corridors of our schools, where young minds are molded and empowered to become…
Read MoreUniting Communities: A Pivotal Force in Combating HIV/AIDS
By Betty Adera As we observe this year’s World AIDS Day, it is crucial to shine a light on persistent inequalities that continue to affect the lives of children, adolescents and young women. Numerous awareness campaigns and other strategies have led to critical advancements during the four-decade long HIV/AIDS global pandemic. However, the role of…
Read MorePass the Mic: Reinvigorating Global Efforts to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality
By Paula Rudnicka, Sr. Manager for Public Affairs at Global Communities In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Governments of India and Ethiopia to convene the Child Survival Call to Action, which galvanized unprecedented commitments from governments and civil society around the…
Read MoreEnding the “Triple Threat” of Early Pregnancies, New HIV Infections and Sexual Violence among Adolescent Girls & Young Women
By Betty Adera A single act of sexual violence against women and girls can result in HIV infections and other sexually transmitted diseases, resulting in shame, fear and trauma. However, for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), sexual violence can also result in early pregnancy and childbearing, which carries its own stigma. Globally, girls between…
Read MoreStriving to Find and Serve Missing Children in HIV Treatment & Care
By Betty Adera Despite tremendous progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, outcomes for treatment and care among children remain low. Sadly, disparities in the HIV response continue to result in failure to meet the unique needs of children living with or are at high risk of HIV. At the end of 2019, an…
Read MoreWorking to End Period Shame and Poverty in Parts of Africa
Lack of education on menstrual hygiene and health, persisting taboos and stigma, limited access to menstrual products and poor sanitation facilities undermines the educational opportunities, health and overall social status of women and girls around the world. As a result, millions are kept from reaching their full potential. In recognition of Menstrual Hygiene Day, learn…
Read MoreMeaningful Engagement of Boys and Men: A Pathway to Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence
By Betty Adera, Senior Technical Advisor HIV/AIDS and Health, Global Communities The COVID-19 pandemic has brought discussions of domestic violence and abuse of women and girls into the global public discourse. As I have worked in the space of adolescent girls and young women’s health and well-being at the community level for more than 20…
Read MoreWorld AIDS Day: Centering Adolescent Girls in the Journey towards HIV Epidemic Control
By: Betty Adera, Senior Technical Advisor HIV/AIDS and Health, Global Communities, Nairobi, Kenya The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “End Inequalities” and it is especially timely as the world continues grappling with COVID-19. Adolescent girls bear the greatest brunt of COVID-19-related inequalities. UNAIDS estimates that in sub-Saharan Africa, four in five new…
Read MoreYoung Doctor Inspires Botswanan Girls to Dream Big and Break Barriers
Photos courtesy of Dr. Aone Gogontle Ditirwa Dr. Aone Gogontle Ditirwa, 25, is from Bobonong, in the Eastern horn of Botswana, and one of the youngest female doctors in the southern African country. As a child, she recalls her love for dismantling things around the house in an effort to “re-create” them – a talent…
Read MoreDreaming of and Driving toward an AIDS-free Botswana
Ask any adolescent girl or young woman what she wants to be when she grows up and the list will be as endless and unique as the girl herself. Some will say doctors and nurses or pilots and accountants, while others will want to make their mark as educators, entrepreneurs or celebrities in music, art…
Read MoreProtecting DREAMS in the Time of COVID-19
At the beginning of April, just a few weeks into the global coronavirus pandemic, DREAMS Botswana had one message for its Facebook followers and the more than 3,000 adolescent girls and young women it serves: “Even through COVID-19, we remain Determined, Resilient, Empowered, Healthy [AIDS-free], Mentored and Safe from HOME.” The line served a dual…
Read MoreOn Air with DREAMS Botswana
“Welcome to The Catch, a radio program for adolescent girls and young women,” enthuses host Botlhale Sebataladi, who also serves as a program officer at PCI Botswana. Her energy is contagious as she introduces her guests, including several young mentors and girls involved with DREAMS, a global initiative of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for…
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