"It Works!" Communication for HIV Prevention and Social Change in Adolescents: A Mid-Term Review

This 80-page evaluation, published by Straight Talk Foundation (STF), presents a mid-term review of the organisation's five year Strategic Plan (SP) for 2006 - 2010, which committed STF to increasing the quality and coverage of its work with adolescents, including the especially vulnerable. It also committed the organisation to: working more with adults; increasing coverage by working with radio; working more in local languages; refining its processes, standards, and awareness of best practices; and better aligning its approach with Uganda’s national HIV framework. The report concludes that while communication for social change does have some limitations, as a strategy it is key to preventing HIV infections at a very low cost per person reached.

According to the report, STF works to better the lives of Ugandan adolescents, particularly around HIV prevention and improved sexual and reproductive health. The organisation's approach builds on the voices and stories of young people, parents, teachers, and health workers to create conversations and generate solutions. STF works through radio, print, and face-to-face communication.

The evaluation looked at two main aspects of STFs programming - coverage and quality. For coverage, it found that radio initiatives were on target. Youth radio shows were being produced in the proposed 14 languages; Parent Talk radio shows were being produced in one more language than was planned for; and STF was broadcasting on 40 stations and had added almost one million potential youth listeners and close to four million adult listeners. However, the review found that print materials used in the project were behind target, and that print runs for all three of its publications had either stopped or declined. For face-to-face communications, results were mixed. Although a new youth centre had been opened to provide services for conflict-affected youth, fewer teachers were reached for training than was projected.

The evaluation cites lack of funding as the primary cause of coverage shortfalls. Authors state that during the period under review, Uganda experienced a drying up of money for HIV prevention because resources were funnelled into care and treatment, and that of the funds available for prevention, only 5% went to mass media and behaviour change work.

In terms of quality, the review found that STF met its target of continuously improving quality. This was determined through interviews and focus group discussions with potential beneficiaries. According to the evaluation, young people attributed behaviour change in their lives to STF work; similarly, adults believed that young people exposed to STF materials are better behaved and informed. Both adolescents and adults described STF radio shows and newspapers as straightforward, interactive, and comprehensive. A review of both STF newspapers and radio shows found that the organisation had reached vulnerable adolescent groups, some of whom STF had previously identified in its Strategic Plan as important, while others emerged as important during the period of the review. The evaluation found that, in print and radio shows, girls'
voices were represented equally with boys', and that, increasingly, papers and radio shows put effort into starting conversations around gender norms.

The review also includes a number of recommendations to address shortcomings in coverage and quality. These include: the need to demonstrate to donors the importance of communication for social change as a key HIV prevention and mitigation strategy; reducing spending on certain programmes in order to provide more resources to others; responding to the changing demographic of the HIV epidemic in Uganda; ensuring that STF's work is in line with Uganda's national HIV/AIDS strategy; systematically addressing most-at-risk adolescents; and continually refining face-to-face approaches for teachers, parents, and vulnerable adolescents.