ATHENA is excited to launch the LEARN project: Young Women Lead, Evidence, Advocate, Research, Network (LEARN): what does PrEP mean for young women?
Young Women LEARN is a two-year project, funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. It will combine participatory action research with leadership methodologies to inform and enhance the roll-out of PrEP by, with and for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in all of their diversity. LEARN aims to ensure that PrEP roll-out and implementation is responsive to the needs, rights, priorities and preferences of AGYW.
Led by the ATHENA Initiative and delivered in partnership with PIPE in Kenya and ICWEA in Uganda, LEARN will equip a cadre of 10 LEARN Ambassadors among AGYW (aged 20-24 years) most impacted by HIV to define their priorities, gather meaningful data, contribute to the formal evidence base around HIV prevention science and to advocate for prevention programming reflecting AGYW’s lived realities, values and preferences. The LEARN Ambassadors will also identify, support and mentor 100 AGYW in their communities as peer mobilizers to raise awareness around PrEP and sexual and reproductive health services.