Developing Models of HIV Prevention Advocacy For Whom and How – Partnerships in Prevention Jim Pickett, IRMA & AIDS Foundation of Chicago Microbicides Pittsburgh May 23, 2010

The recipe for success IRMA as a “model” Here we go

Background Long history of treatment advocacy To date - prevention advocacy has focused on: – Male and female condoms – VCT – Clean needles – Behaviour change – MTCT – Male circumcision Advocacy around NPT is in its adolescence

Method to the madness Informal and telephone interviews with NPT advocacy leaders – Successes – Challenges – What do you do best? – How might another group incorporate your best? – What is the thing you need to work on? – If I could do it all over again, ____________________

Who did I talk to? Manju Chatani – AMAG [African Microbicides Advocacy Group] Anna Forbes – formerly GCM [Global Campaign for Microbicides] Morenike Ukpong – NHVMAS [New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society] Mitchell Warren – AVAC [AVAC - Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention]

Pearls of wisdom

Themes Passion Purpose Strategy CreativityVision Strength Mentor

The competition is the virus, not other technologies. The goal is to prevent new infections and end the epidemic.

Be passionate

Fill a gap - Manju Chatani

Have a mission

Facilitate, collaborate We have done much to facilitate relationships and partnerships between African advocates and researchers… - Manju Chatani Do your work in coalition, in collaboration, with unusual suspects. - Mitchell Warren

Create partnerships I personally crave to see more empowering collaborations with other organisations in the field. I desire this and wish to see such successful models - where the partners all bring things to the table as equals.

Herd the cats We chose to form an inclusive movement by engaging women's health advocates, gay men's health advocates, HIV/AIDS activists, and international development organizations through their own specific interest in microbicides.

Halfway home

Great advocacy models understand how they integrate into the larger discourse. from communities to scientists and back. - - Mitchell Warren We connect the dots on a wide range of disparate issues, and translate them to various audiences,

It’s not just the money, honey Prevention research has often been boiled down to "we need more money" - but lots of things are not about just money. We need to be more sophisticated and move from cheerleading advocacy to more strategic, more critical thinking, from clinical trial results to public health impacts, to evidence-based analysis. - Mitchell Warren

But… where IS the money honey? Funding has been the primary challenge. It has stunted our growth and our capacity to do the work we have envisioned and endorsed by our constituents to do. – Manju Chatani Getting funding support is EXTREMELY difficult and so we have to be EXTREMELY imaginative. – Morenike Ukpong

GCM's approach has been to "lead from behind" and to avert conflict and competition by anticipating potential areas of tension and addressing them proactively... The creation of IRMA, of course, is our most successful example of this approach. - Anna Forbes Strategic mentoring We currently are developing a 18 months mentorship plan with a Spanish organisation who is great with government advocacy. They will learn about community mobilisation including media engagement from NHVMAS – a great model for learning. NHVMAS learned a lot from GCM in its early years - Morenike Ukpong

Challenges - Manju Chatani

A pinch of this a splash of that

IRMA, b people, 3 agencies, 2 countries

Roll with it, make it up Communications – Listserv – Teleconferences – Website, blog, other social networking – Reports Activities – Conferences M2006, AIDS 2006, etc – Lubricant survey

Become a publisher

Play well with other acronyms Collaborations –A–AMAG, AMD, amfAR, AVAC, CHAMP, GCM, GMHS, GNP+ MSMGF, MTN, NHVMAS, PC, UCLA, + dozens and dozens more advocacy groups, universities, research institutions –I–IRMA ALC, IRMA Nigeria Governance –T–TOR –S–Steering Committee

The forest for the trees Connection to broader issues – Lack of data on heterosexual AI – Stigma, taboo – Homophobia, criminalization – Gender inequities – Human rights, LGBT rights – Current HIV prevention and NPT writ large

Special thanks to IRMA funders

And that’s it

Thank you