Country watch: West Africa
Wihofszky, P.
Sexual Health Exchange 1999(2): 11-12
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 1388-3046 PMID: 12295564 Document Number: 525143
Participants in a 1995 workshop in Togo on sex work and HIV prevention identified community participation as the key to successful project implementation. During the workshop, participants discussed lessons learned from working with sex workers and their clients in HIV prevention and care programs in West Africa, particularly in four countries: Togo, Senegal, Mali, and Cote d'Ivoire. The important lessons cited were the following: 1) project success depends on a network of contacts by gaining the trust and acceptance of sex workers and identifying individuals who are widely accepted in the heterogeneous sex work milieu; 2) peer involvement is a key strategy for successful project development; 3) the project can become a place of support and solidarity by strengthening the relationships between the team and the communities they serve; and 4) all projects offered some adapted service package that contributed to the personal development of the female sex workers, such as the Danaya So project in Mali, which offered women courses on trading and business skills and establishment of credit funds. In conclusion, participatory approaches provide hopeful perspectives for future programs addressing the HIV/AIDS situation in West Africa.