AGYW in Sub-Saharan Africa bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic and face significant barriers to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). For decades, international aid, particularly from the United States through programmes like PEPFAR and USAID, has been a cornerstone of the response, funding critical services for HIV prevention and treatment, gender equality, and GBV support.
The sudden issuance of a “stop‐work order” from the U.S. government, paired with sharp funding cuts from international donors, unleashed an immediate and profound crisis. This wasn’t just a U.S. problem, Europe joined in too, with aid cuts across major donor countries such as the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Canada. These decisions threatened to dismantle essential health and community systems, leaving millions in vulnerable situations, especially AGYW, without access to lifesaving prevention, reproductive health care, and community support services. Without a coordinated safety net, the consequences have been devastating.
In response to this urgent situation, the ATHENA Network, in collaboration with UNAIDS ESA, conducted a rapid assessment to understand the immediate, on-the ground impact of these funding cuts on AGYW. The primary goal of this assessment was to gather direct feedback from AGYW on how the service disruptions were affecting their access to SRHR, HIV prevention and treatment, and gender-based violence support, as well as their socio-economic stability, education, and mental health.
The assessment was conducted via Focus Group discussions and a survey distributed to the in country cohorts of the ATHENA Network’s #WhatGirlsWant project.
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