PSP Southeast Europe / RiskNet2
RiskNet2, a project operated by technical lead PSI with partner Abt Associates, is a 15-month follow-on to the three-year RiskNet project which ended in September 2005. RiskNet provided a regional approach to reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV and other blood borne viruses (BBV) by supporting local NGOs that work with vulnerable populations (VPs) such as ethnic minorities, injecting drug users (IDUs), commercial sex workers (CSWs), and men who have sex with men (MSM). This program supported 13 such NGOs in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania.
The follow-on project to RiskNet – RiskNet2 – has two components. The first is the continuation of the “gatekeeper” model of outreach. A gatekeeper is someone who has access to and/or influence over a portion of the target that is otherwise difficult for an NGO to reach or influence. They act as extensions of the NGO itself, helping in non-formal ways to facilitate behavior change among their network of friends and acquaintances. In the previous project, this model helped increase the number of registered clients at the NGOs by more than 430%; it grew the number of clients being served on an average monthly basis by more than 160%; and it increased the number of clients getting tested for HIV by more than 180%.
The second component of RiskNet2 is the provision of technical assistance to improve NGO sustainability. In many countries of South Eastern Europe, external funding from donors is decreasing as European Union integration draws nearer. For most of the countries, support from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will soon draw to a close. RiskNet2 will develop individual organizational development plans to improve sustainability for each NGO and aid in their implementation.
Overall, the program will look at four major outcomes, including: 1) reaching the target populations in a manner conducive to educating the population regarding HIV/AIDS risk; 2) developing the skills set and relationships that would provide opportunity for NGOs to maintain services with other donors or funding organizations; 3) supporting the NGOs to build capacity for sustainability through educational and training programs; 4) identifying lessons learned about the behavior change programs and improve an understanding of the approaches that work best and why.
Latest Achievements
- Continuous growth in key measures among the network NGOs. This included growing the number of new clients by 429% and the number of HIV/STI tests by 183%.
- Completed qualitative peer ethnographic research of men who have sex with men in four countries.
- Designed and tested an intervention to promote sexual health among Roma males. A secondary objective of this project was to make the intervention simple enough that non-HIV focused NGOs could easily implement it with little sexual/reproductive health knowledge or experience.
- Conducted quantitative research study of drug consumption patterns in four countries. This included 614 interviews executed by 12 organizations.
For more information, please contact:
Jim Ayers
Project Manager
Email: jayers@psi.ro
Leah Levin, MPH
Email: Leah_Levin@abtassoc.com
