DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, and Safe) Initiative – Mozambique

In Mozambique, HIV prevalence is three times higher amongst adolescent girls and young woman than their male counterparts. As a community partner of the DREAMS Initiative, an ambitious multi-country public-private partnership to reduce the risk of HIV amongst adolescent girls and young women, we deliver an integrated package of health, education, economic strengthening, and social protection services that address the age-specific needs of in- and out-of-school adolescent girls and young women and their families in six high HIV burden districts of Mozambique.

Strategic Approach

Since 2016, through the DREAMS project in Mozambique, WEI/Bantwana has been adapting its institutional experience and strengths, and using a multidimensional strategy to target more than 37,000 hard-to-reach, at-risk AGYW. WEI/Bantwana is delivering an integrated package of health, education, and social protection services that address the age-specific needs of in- and out-of-school AGYW and their families in seven DREAMS districts. WEI/Bantwana and partners use a layered approach, ensuring that each AGYW receives a core package of services that tackles factors that exacerbate the HIV epidemic.

Key Interventions and Activities

Creating Demand for Adolescent Friendly Health Services

• Develop and roll out information on family planning, gender-based violence (GBV), HIV prevention and response, child marriage and trafficking, as well as train community cadres (e.g., Mentors and Peer Educators) to improve linkages of AGYW to non-clinical services and information at school and community health corners.
• Coordinate multi-sectoral outreach and mobilization interventions, such as the Mobile One-Stop Service Delivery events, designed to maximize the provision and uptake of health and social protection services in vulnerable communities and reach in- and out-of-school girls ages 10-24 in their local areas.

Increasing Social Assets

• Support the deconstruction of gender stereotypes and challenge patriarchal norms to prevent and respond to GBV using an empowerment club model that creates safe spaces and equips AGYW ages 15-24 with information on HIV and GBV prevention, reproductive health, leadership, and life skills.
• Engage schools (including school committees, teachers, and youth) and community members to advocate for and protect children’s rights.
• Provide school block grants and education subsidies to support vulnerable girls to stay in school, transition from primary to secondary school, or reintegrate into school.
• Promote economic empowerment of AGYW through vocational training provided by local community artisans and private institutions.

Mobilizing Communities

• Encourage and support AGYW and their caregivers to join Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA). These VSLA groups serve as a key platform for integrated health and social service delivery, such as HIV, sexual and reproductive rights, and GBV information and services.
• Roll out a parenting education program to benefit both caregivers of AGYW and out-of-school AGYW ages 15-24.
• Deliver ASRH services through a tested sports intervention that utilizes sports competitions to disseminate messages about sexual and reproductive health to adolescent boys and girls, complemented by community dialogues on HIV and GBV in order to increase engagement of men and boys.