UNAIDS has embarked on a project to support communities in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project has a two-pronged approach to provide short-term, urgent assistance and long-term, structural interventions to empower communities to respond to the immediate and extended impacts of COVID-19.
It also seeks to strengthen advocacy efforts aimed at government and partners to include the needs of vulnerable communities, including people living with HIV, key populations, adolescent girls and young women and pregnant and breast-feeding women, in COVID-19 response plans.
In the short-term, UNAIDS, in partnership with The National Empowerment Network of People living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK) and Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK), is distributing food and hygiene packs to people living with HIV in informal settlements.
WOFAK is distributing food vouchers across six counties in Kenya, targeting 450 women and girls in all their diversity. The two organizations are together distributing hygiene packs, consisting of a three-month supply of soap and disinfectant, as part of a partnership between UNAIDS and Reckitt Benckiser, to 10 000 people living with HIV across Kenya.
Furthermore, UNAIDS is supporting community organizations with a grant of Kes. 7 400 000 (USD 69 256). These funds will not only purchase food vouchers, but also will support communities to meaningfully engage in the Global Fund application process, assess the impact of COVID-19, including human rights and gender violations during the pandemic, and support civil society organizations to develop key messages and consolidate their strategies while linking them to Kenya’s Ministry of Health.
