PRESS RELEASE

Project launch: Mobilising Media Activism and Community
Participation in Stigma Reduction in Nigeria

JUNE 10 2003: Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria is
pleased to announce the commencement of a two-year project
to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in the
media and other identified communities in Nigeria.

The project, titled Mobilising Media Activism and
Community Participation in Stigma Reduction , is funded by
the Unites States Agency for International Development
(USAID) through the Rapid Response Mechanism for HIV/AIDS
Activities (Community REACH) project, managed by Pact,
Inc., Washington, Dc, USA.

The project aims to harness the capacity of the Nigerian
media and communities as a potential force for change to
reduce the high levels of HIV-related stigma and
discrimination in the country. We plan to achieve this
through a package of capacity-building, community
empowerment and information dissemination activities
targeted at key actors within the media, PLWHA, public
sector personalities and traditional leadership
institutions in Nigeria. The goal of the project is to
reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in
drastic, measurable terms within the media and other
identifiable communities in Nigeria by mid-2005.

The project will equip gatekeepers in the media with
accurate, up-to-date information to report on issues,
challenges and solutions around stigma and discrimination;
provide platforms for informed public discussion and debate
on stigma and discrimination; and build capacity among
leaders of the Nigerian media so that they will, on their
own, become advocates for change both in terms of
communicating behaviour change to reduce stigma, and
mobilising policy change for a legal and institutional
framework that protects and promotes rights and access to
redress for PLWH and people affected by AIDS (PABA) when
confronted by stigma.

Specific activities will include:

1. A baseline survey to determine key issues, factors and
determinants of HIV-related stigma and discrimination in
Nigeria, including focus group discussions, policy mapping
and analysis and media monitoring studies

2. Consultative Roundtables to be held with PLWHA, media
gatekeepers and community actors, aimed at generating
popular debate around stigma and proffer ways to address
stigma-related issues. The roundtables will hold in Enugu,
Kano, Ado-Ekiti and Lagos

3. Capacity building workshops aimed at building knowledge
of stigma issues among media, PLWHA and leaders of targeted
communities

4. Publication and circulation of a tri-yearly newsletter
showcasing the activities of community actors in reducing
stigma and discrimination and providing information on
services/facilities for protection of the rights of PLWHA

5. Annual Awards to profile and honor individuals and
organizations who have by their actions and pronouncements,
broken the silence surrounding stigma and discrimination in
their communities. The awards will be incorporated into
the prestigious Red Ribbon Awards on HIV/AIDS organized by
JAAIDS annually since 2001. The awards are given out at a
ceremony around December 1 (World AIDS Day) each year.

As a deliberate measure to spread competence in combating
stigma and discrimination, the project will collaborate
actively with PLWA networks and civil society coalitions
across the country, especially the Network of PLWHA in
Nigeria (NEPWHAN), the Treatment Action Movement (TAM) and
the Civil Society Consultative Group on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
(CiSCGHAN). PLWH will also be included in every activity of
the project, either as implementing staff or resource
persons.

By working to build the capacity of the media to
disseminate accurate and non-stigmatising information to
the public, as well as to sensitise the general public and
support the development of legislation and policies centred
on human rights of PLWA, the project will directly
complement Nigeria s national HIV/AIDS control strategies.
Specifically, the project will help in fulfilment of two of
the core strategies of the HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan
(HEAP), Nigeria s battle plan for combating HIV/AIDS in
2001-2005: the removal of socio-cultural barriers (HEAP
strategy no. 1); and the removal of information barriers to
HIV/AIDS prevention and care (HEAP strategy no. 2).

The project will also support the activities of Nigeria s
Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) for the Global Fund
for AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, by: building the
capacity of community leaders in HIV/AIDS advocacy,
especially to provide support and protect the rights of
PLWHA; and by promoting increased partnership between the
media, PLWHA, human rights groups and HIV/AIDS activists in
protecting and affirming rights of PLWHA

Please feel free to contact us at the address below for any
inquiry about the project. We would especially appreciate
receiving copies of studies, reports or presentations
available on stigma and discrimination-related issues
across the continent. We count on your support.

Many thanks.

Omololu Falobi
Program Director
Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria
Media Resource Centre on HIV/AIDS
1st Floor, 42 Ijaye Road, Ogba, Lagos
Email: [email protected]