Options' innovative work on the impact of HIV and AIDS on fishing communities in Uganda has led to their inclusion in the UAC's National Strategic Plan as a major vulnerable community. Our expertise in social marketing has also been utilised in Ethiopia and Kenya and, more recently, PEER expanded its successful approach to rapid but in-depth qualitative data collection and analysis when it was successfully used in research among male inmates in Kigali prison.

 

See below for illustrations of our work.

Kenya:
Options provided short term technical assistance to the Kenyan Ministry of Health and German Development Cooperation to develop a social marketing strategy for branded condoms (SURE condoms).  The social marketing strategy was embedded in a total market approach.  As a result of this work the MoH, GTZ and KfW decided to create, promote SURE condoms targeted at young people.

Tanzania:
Options has assisted Marie Stopes International's expansion of its condom social marketing programme.  We assessed opportunities for expansion of the contraceptive social marketing portfolio between 2007 - 2010, and what will be required in terms of financial resources and capacity building.  Options SA has also undertaken a number of evaluations of civil society organisation programmes in Tanzania.  In 2007  we led a mapping and research study to inform development of the Global Business Plan Advocacy Campaign for Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.  On behalf of DFID, Norad, Gates Foundation, UNFPA and the PMNCH we  interviewed a wide range of government, media and civil society stakeholders to identify capacity and resources for advocacy, identifying advocacy opportunities over the next 3 years, advocacy entry points at multiple levels, and potential challenges and responses to mitigate them (see also South Asia regional profile).

Uganda:
Options led the situation assessment of the impact of HIV and AIDS on fishing communities in Uganda (DFID Uganda).  This led on to our involvement in the design of a national strategic response, and its implementation plan.  As a result of our work fishing communities have now been incorporated into the Uganda AIDS Commission's National Strategic Plan as a major vulnerable community.