HIV counseling and testing
Botswana Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (BONEPWA)

Partnership Period: Sept 2008 – February 2010 (18 months)

Botswana Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (BONEPWA) is a national network of people living with HIV/AIDS and their support groups. The key role of BONEPWA is to consolidate the participation of people living with HIV and AIDS in HIV prevention in addition to facilitating consolidation and harmonisation of PLWHA support group activities being seen as small scale, isolated, fragmented and consequently their impact on national response being under rated.

The identified project objectives to be supported are to:

• Mobilise the general communities and people living with HIV/AIDS in and around Kang, Kasane, Nlapkwane and Radisele to adopt key HIV prevention behaviours.
• Strengthen the institutional capacity of BONEPWA to effectively facilitate and coordinate prevention with the positives initiatives through PLWHA support groups at community level

ACHAP will support BONEPWA by funding the following activities:

• Prevention with the Positives - the identification and empowerment of individual PLHWA to become effective community HIV prevention behaviour change agents. The change required is adoption and sustenance of key prevention behaviours by both infected and affected persons to be achieved through intensive and comprehensive community mobilisation by PLWHAs.
• Strengthening of the institutional capacity of BONEPWA to effectively facilitate and coordinate prevention with the positives initiatives through PLWHA support groups at community level through support in the areas of Human resources, skills development, development of IEC/BCC materials, organisational and financial support.