Meet the 2011 Advocacy Fellows

After a thorough selection process involving a pool of 60 applicants from 17 countries in Africa, Asia, North and South America, AVAC has awarded six Advocacy Fellowships to individuals from Kenya (two), South Africa (two), Uganda (one) and Zambia (one). Like in the inaugural round, we have to focus on sub-Saharan Africa, but we hope to expand to other regions in future. Below, you'll meet the 2011 Advocacy Fellows and learn about what they will work on during their 12-month Fellowship.

Grace Mukuhi Kamau
Host: Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme, Kenya
Project: An initiative aimed at increasing awareness on PrEP and Microbicides among sex workers, bar hostesses and policy makers in Kenya

Grace has been involved in HIV prevention programs with the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme (BHSP) for the past four years. Her passion has been working with sex workers and bar hostesses on issues of HIV prevention and human rights. Grace currently works as project officer with the BHZP, where she coordinates sex workers and bar hostess groups across Kenya with a membership of more than forty thousand sex workers. She has worked with police officers in Kenya as stakeholders around human rights abuses of sex workers. She is also currently the Secretary of the Sex Worker Alliance for Kenya, and sits on the Kenya Technical Advisory body for sex workers. A graduate of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Grace holds a bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Sociology and Political Science.

For the fellowship, Grace`s main hope is to engage sex workers and bar hostesses to better understand the processes of PrEP and Microbicides research and how these affect and are affected by them. She also wants to explore the issues and concerns about possible future access to these kinds of interventions for sex workers and bar hostesses. Also as an Advocacy Fellow she hopes to engage policy makers on the benefits that these potential HIV prevention interventions could have for high risk groups such as sex workers and bar hostesses.

Oliver Kanene
Host: Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), Zambia
Project: HIV Prevention Clinical Trials: The Case for Media Engagement

Oliver brings a wealth of experience as a journalist, journalism trainer and development worker with experience in HIV prevention activities. He has since 1986 worked towards confronting the stigma around HIV/AIDS at many fronts using his extensive experience in media and communications. With support from local and international organisations, he started a newspaper, AIDS & Health News, which disseminates accurate and regular news related to HIV/AIDS and health broadly.

He has also been instrumental in the founding of several grassroots HIV/AIDS organisations and projects in Zambia. His most recent work has been around mainstreaming the process of health research communication for policy and programming. He has worked with several local, regional and international organisations including the John Snow Training Institute and Concern Worldwide among others.

Oliver holds a bachelor of social sciences degree from the University of Tampere in Finland.

For his Fellowship project, Oliver hopes to use his extensive media and HIV/AIDS experience to build a cadre of journalists who consistently, accurately and responsibly report on HIV prevention research in Zambia. He will also work towards creating linkages between researchers, the civil society and journalists, editors, media owners and journalism trainers thereby contributing to a favorable HIV prevention research environment. He will specifically use the MDP 301 trial process as a case study.

Brian Kanyemba
Host: Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, South Africa
Project: Moving South African PrEP Forward: Generating and synthesizing community perspectives and policy post iPrEX

Brian is a native Zimbabwean, living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. Brian's passion for HIV prevention, education, and advocacy began years ago as he witnessed first hand the devastating effects HIV was having on his friends, family, and community. He holds an honors degree in Psychology and after serving ten years in the Zimbabwe National Army, committed his career to working with vulnerable populations, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM). Brian's previous advocacy experience has been directed towards obtaining better access to HIV education and prevention tools for the communities that need them the most. He brings this experience to his current work at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation where he serves as a research assistant for the Men's health division. In this position, Brian works daily with participants on the Global iPrEx study and has used this opportunity to refine his perspectives and opinions on new HIV biomedical prevention options.

Brian’s Advocacy Fellowship project will focus on creating an understanding and bringing attention to under-represented voices of the MSM community around HIV prevention research. He aims to bring to the forefront their ideas, opinions, concerns, current understanding and knowledge in the use of PrEP as an HIV prevention intervention. He hopes to work with service providers, community leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders to encourage them to involve MSM in future prevention programming and to increase their overall focus and inclusion of this vulnerable community in their work, research and/or services. By collecting these perspectives and engaging with different groups, and specifically the policymakers, Brian hopes that it will allow for mainstreaming guidelines, national polices and laws to better reflect the opinions raised by the previous MSM community discussions.

Leader Ngooyi Kanyiki
Host: Sonke gender Justice Forum, South Africa
Project: Moving forward Medical Male Circumcision Discussions in South Africa and Integrating Gender Equality Education

Leader focuses on issues of child sexual exploitation at Sonke Gender Justice Network. His advocacy work began as a university student body President and later as President of the Provincial Student Union in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), his homeland. As part of a team of researchers, Leader investigated torture and kidnapping and monitored national elections. He received numerous commendations, including one from the Committee for Peace and Development Journalists, the most highly esteemed grouping of investigative journalists in DRC. After becoming a registered nurse, his advocacy focused on HIV/AIDS. In 2007, he moved to South Africa where he has worked for several organizations including Planned Parenthood Association; Whole World Women Association; and Save A Soul Brigade. With Sonke Gender Justice, Leader also works against xenophobia. Leader is currently pursuing his post-graduate degree in Psychology.

In his Advocacy Fellowship, Leader hopes to advance the national discussion on MMC within South Africa, promote the importance of integrating gender equality education, and support the South African government - and in particular the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC)’s efforts to rollout MMC among young South African men. He also hopes to work with the media to provide a platform for medical professionals, researchers and activists to debate and elaborate on the medical male circumcision in South Africa.

Simon Odiwuor K’Ondiek
Host: Nyanza Reproductive Health Society (NRHS), Kenya
Project: Addressing Issues Arising in Male Circumcision Roll-out: A Photography Documentary

Simon is the Coordinator of HIV/AIDS Research & Advocacy Programme, an organization that engages communities with HIV prevention research. He is an HIV prevention research advocate with vast experience in the mobilization of communities to engage effectively with HIV prevention research and educating these communities on clinical trials around them. Simon has coordinated the activities of Vaccine Support Network-Nyanza, a network of organizations that, for 5 years, supported research towards the development a safe and effective AIDS vaccine. He has extensive experience in capacity and skills building of communities through working with local NGOs, CBOs and FBOs.

In his Fellowship project, Simon will design a photography documentary to address knowledge, attitudes, communication and behavioral intentions of young men and women with respect to voluntary medical male circumcision rollout in Nyanza Province. The documentary will bring to life such issues as access and acceptability, risk compensation and monitoring the potential effects, risks, and benefits of MC for men and women, in addition to enhancing the voices of the characters in it. The photography documentary will make use of photo sets systematically arranged with a narrative in the form of notes or descriptions on the photo sets to tell a story. In developing this photo novella, Simon hopes to work with community members to take photos and conduct interviews. He also hopes to build an advocacy task force to work within Nyanza to monitor the rollout of male circumcision in Nyanza district.

Sylvia Nakasi
Host: Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO), Uganda
Project: Documentation of Lessons Learned on Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) Programme Implementation and Ground laying for ARV-Based HIV Prevention in Uganda

Sylvia has six years’ experience in program development and management. She has acquired hands on experience in project cycle management, resource mobilisation, capacity building, networking and advocacy at the community, district, national and international levels. She worked as a program officer with Build Africa, an NGO supporting enterprise development and education among young people in Uganda and Kenya, before her recent move to Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO).

Slyvia’s Fellowship project will explore and document perspectives regarding ARV-based prevention in Uganda in order to prepare for possible introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), 1% tenofovir gel and treatment as prevention. She will therefore work closely with the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) and Ministry of Health to prepare for future policy development for ARV- Based prevention. In addition to this, Sylvia has a keen interest in medical male circumcision as an HIV prevention option, and hopes to partly focus on building capacities in understanding national policies and document the civil society experiences with rolling out safe medical circumcision in Uganda. She will further use the lessons learned from this process to inform future roll out of new interventions. For sustainability, Sylvia will work with her host UNASO and other partners to take forward advocacy on what works, the gaps and will make recommendations for a better SMC policy.