Regional Workshop on HIV, AIDS and Housing
23rd to 27th February, 2009
AACC Conference Center and Guest House, Nairobi, Kenya
Rooftops Canada in collaboration with Mazingira Institute/ SINA hosted a four day Regional Workshop on HIV, AIDS and Housing in Nairobi, Kenya from 23rd to 27th February, 2009. During the four day workshop, 28 participants from 11 countries (including one participant from UN Habitat), shared experiences and gained new tools and strategies for responding to HIV and AIDS within the Human Settlements development agenda. .
The workshop sessions focused on building skills and capacity in specific areas of mainstreaming HIV and Aids for housing human settlements development actors – what does mainstreaming HIV and AIDS mean in operational terms, what are some specific strategies to train and retain trainers, how to sustain grass roots initiatives, the importance and methods of networking with actors within the AIDS sector to complement activities and provide services, skills and tools to monitor and evaluate programs, the importance of including especially vulnerable groups – women, youth, PLHIV within planning, monitoring and evaluation. Participants felt that the workshop was an important and useful opportunity to facilitate the ongoing networking of ideas, resources and horizontal exchanges.
On the last day participants visited housing co-operatives in Nairobi slums which are responding to HIV and AIDS. We visited the Marura Housing co-operative which is working with youth and cares for AIDS orphans.
We gratefully acknowledge the support from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Agencia Catalana de Coopericio al Desenvolupament (ACCD) –through the HIC Africa Project.
HIC Members who participated in the workshop (by country) –
• CONGEH, Cameroon
• Rooftops Canada, Canada
• Integrated Holistic Approach Urban Development Project, Ethiopia
• Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action(YUVA), India
• National Co-operative Housing Union, Kenya
• SINA/ Mazingira Institute, Kenya
• COFEPE, Mali
• PlanAct, South Africa
• Community Organization Resource Centre
• HAFOTA, Tanzania
• WAT Human Settlements Trust, Tanzania
• Shelter and Settlements Alternatives, Uganda
• Housing People of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
• Swedish Co-operative Centre, Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe National Housing Co-operative Association (Zimbabwe)
• Others who participated- UN Habitat, Slum / Shack Dwellers International (South Africa, Kenya, Zambia), MES and JHC South Africa.
