ONGWEDIVA - The United States Agency for International Development through the Ministry of Sports, Youth and National Service reached over 175 000 adolescent girls and women with services to empower them and help prevent HIV infections.
The partnership between the two helps with improved access to HIV prevention, care, treatment services and skills to prevent and address gender-based violence.
According to the Minister of Sports, Youth and National Services, Agnes Tjongarero, the government is aware and has been hard at work addressing the challenges faced by youth in Namibia in general.
“We have been pre-occupied with ensuring the development and promotion of tangible results in addressing these challenges in collaboration with other government agencies and our development partners,” said Tjongarero.
Tjongarero expressed gratitude towards the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for promoting economic empowerment among adolescent girls and women at risk of contracting HIV and AIDS by funding DREAMS that is being offered to the Namibian youth.
USAID country representative in Namibia, McDonald Homer, highlighted that PEPFAR helps to avert new HIV infections among young women in regions of Kavango East, Kavango West, Khomas, Oshana, Oshikoto and Zambezi, and starting next month, USAID will help the sports ministry to roll out funding in all 14 regions of the country.
“The agreement has outlined several areas of collaboration, including capacity building of youth officers, HIV and GBV prevention and the provision of skills training by the ministry of youth to beneficiaries. By joining forces, it has demonstrated the importance of expanding partnership in order to best address the needs of young women in Namibia,” said Homer.
He further maintained that PEPFAR provides a comprehensive package of care to young women, addressing their specific needs and that epidemiological data shows that this group faces a disproportionate risk of acquiring HIV compared to their male counterparts.
“We recently introduced a new programme called Reach Namibia, through which USAID intends to reach children and youth who have yet to be served including adolescent boys and young men made vulnerable due to HIV, to receive various interventions including DREAMS interventions,” said Homer.
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