Powerful Song and Video Touch Hearts, Reduce Stigma in Pakistan
NOVEMBER 2006 — FHI/Pakistan collaborated with UNAIDS and Pakistan's National AIDS Control Program to produce Al Vida, a music video featuring Pakistani pop star Salman Ahmed. It follows the story of an HIV-positive woman activist. Even viewers who do not understand Urdu will be touched by Ahmed's song and can follow the storyline through the stunning and emotionally charged imagery. Launched a year ago, the video continues to resonate. A tool at media workshops, the song also airs on South Asian music channels and MTV Asia.
OCTOBER 2005 — Pakistanis living with HIV and AIDS who participated in a recent "positive living" skills-building workshop received completion certificates at a ceremony in Lahore attended by several national and international dignitaries, including U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
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Sharing the Voices of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan
FHI/Pakistan and the New Light AIDS Control Society (NLACS) collaborated on Voices of People Living With HIV/AIDS, an educational and empowering brochure that contains personal accounts from HIV-positive people. Read about how these strong individuals are facing stigma by downloading the case studies.
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FHI/Pakistan Marks World AIDS Day with Weeklong Events
JANUARY 2005 — FHI/Pakistan and partner organizations commemorated World AIDS Day for a week last month. A series of activities and events were held in cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan and Larkana. An estimated 7,000 people were reached with HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention messages through these activities.
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FHI/Pakistan Builds the Capacity of Local Organizations
A key thrust of the FHI program in Pakistan is to build sustainable solutions by supporting local organizations as they develop and implement HIV/AIDS interventions. FHI has organized workshops for local partners on behavior change communication, project design, monitoring and evaluation, and integrating STI management into existing health care services. FHI also sponsored two study tours for members of partner agencies to observe and learn from HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs currently underway in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Over the past 18 months, FHI's implementing partners have reached more than 40,000 individuals with HIV/STI prevention activities.
Community Starts HIV Prevention Resource Center
One year ago FHI, and its partner the Pakistan Lions Youth Council (PLYC), launched a series of HIV/AIDS prevention and health care activities at the large bus station in the town of Multan. Thousands of people pass through the station daily, mostly young men migrating from other areas of the country in search of job opportunities. The project has developed behavior change materials and organized street theater and concert performances to increase HIV/AIDS awareness. These efforts inspired local resident and business leader Haji Muhammed Saleem, who also serves as the president of the station's Workshop/Mechanics Union, to get involved. Mr. Saleem has provided building space free of charge to establish a community resource center called Apna Kal meaning Our Better Tomorrow. The center offers a place to go for refreshments as well as HIV prevention materials. A trained outreach worker is also available to answer visitors' questions about HIV/AIDS. This community involvement and ownership will ensure an enduring commitment to address the epidemic.
FHI, Local Partner Support People Living with HIV/AIDS
FHI has partnered with the New Light AIDS Control Society—the first and only association of people living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan—to decrease AIDS-related stigma and discrimination and to improve care and support services for HIV-positive individuals. With USAID support, FHI and New Light have recently published Voices of People Living with HIV/AIDS. The profiles, written in the national language of Urdu, tell the stories of seven individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The publication will be widely distributed via the public and private sectors. FHI and New Light are also working together to improve home-based care services for people living with HIV/AIDS and advocate for access to antiretroviral treatment.
Pakistan BCC Project Award Ceremony Held
MAY 2004 — FHI/Pakistan organized a project awarding ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 4. The ceremony not only officially recognized the local implementing agencies (IA) chosen to lead behavior change communication (BCC) efforts, but also kicked off a five-day workshop to build IA capacity. FHI Country Director Dr. Naseer Muhammad Nizamani awarded project certificates to the chosen agencies.
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FHI Offers BCC Project Designing, Proposal Writing Workshop
FEBRUARY 2004 — FHI/Pakistan organized a five-day workshop to help build the technical capacity of implementing agencies (IA) as they design behavior change interventions (BCI) for USAID-funded activities in Pakistan. Two programs have been approved following the workshop.
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