Mauritania: Islam and HIV/AIDS Project

Dates: October 2000- May 2003

• Overview
• Partners
• Objectives
• Target Audience
• Activities
• Outputs
• Impact
• Future Plans

Overview

Mauritania is faced with an increasing HIV prevalence rate. In 2001, 10,000 of the 2,590,000 Mauritanians were HIV positive (PNLS, 2001). The overwhelming majority of the Mauritanian population is Muslim and sex is considered a taboo topic in the community. Therefore, advocating with Islamic Religious Leaders to disseminate HIV/AIDS messages is key to insuring the reach of the widest audience possible. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs under the SFPS project has collaborated with STOPSIDA, a Mauritanian NGO, to train Islamic religious leaders to address their constituents about HIV/AIDS prevention and care and support to PLWHAs, using references to Islamic teachings in the Koran.

Partners

• The US Embassy, Mauritania
• STOPSIDA
• The High Islamic Council, Mauritania
• PNLS Mauritania

Objectives

• Train Islamic religious leaders in general Behavior Change Communication concepts including Interpersonal Communication and Counseling (IPC/C) and community mobilization regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and care and support to PLWHAs
• Increase the Islamic community's awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Mauritania
• Limit HIV transmission by promoting preventive behavior
• Promote care and support to PLWHAs
• Disseminate Islam and STI/HIV/AIDS best practices in the region

Target Audience

Muslim Religious leaders: Imams, Oulemas, Mahadras (coranic schools) teachers.

Activities

• Training workshops in HIV/AIDS IPC/C for religious leaders
• Supervision visits to trained religious leaders to discuss and monitor their action plan
• Development of a guide "Islam and AIDS" for Islamic religious leaders with an accompanying audio cassette to help them address their constituents
• Mass-media and community mobilization activities hosted by Islamic religious leaders
• Validation workshop for adoption of the Islam and AIDS guide by the Mauritania High Islamic Council
• Regional Islam and AIDS exchange workshop to share Mauritania's Islam and AIDS experience with neighboring Muslim countries in West and North Africa: the result of the workshop was the creation of a regional Islam and AIDS network.

Outputs

• HIV/AIDS IPC/C Training curriculum for Islamic religious leaders
• Islam and AIDS Guide and accompanying audiocassette for Islamic Religious leaders
• Regional Islam and AIDS network

Impact

• 160 Mosque imams and Coranic school teachers trained in STI/HIV/AIDS IPC/C techniques
• Approx. 192,000 Muslims reached through talks and conferences held by the trained religious leaders
• Increased awareness of STI/HIV/AIDS among the population in Mauritania
• Increased political commitment to combat HIV/AIDS

Future Plans

• Make the Islam and AIDS regional network operational

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