Engaging Community Leaders: A Tool For Facilitating Dialogue

This tool is aimed at engaging community leaders to reduce vulnerabilities and increase the safety of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Swaziland’s HIV response. It was developed to assist community leaders in creating a protective environment to reduce the vulnerability of AGYW and advocate for modification of harmful cultural norms and practices that place AGYW at risk of HIV infection.

Composed of four sections: Gender and HIV, AGYW Vulnerability to HIV, Gender-Based Violence, and Stigma and Activism, each section is to be presented on separate days to a group of community leaders preselected by a trained facilitator.

The tool is designed for program staff to present the first two modules on two consecutive days, followed by Module 3 a few months later and Module 4 a few months after that. However, this can be modified to fit program needs.

Engaging Community Leaders to Provide a Safe And Supportive Environment for Adolescent Girls and Young Women