In 2012, the GMT Initiative launched the Evidence in Action project to engage long-standing GMT Initiative grantee-partners to conduct formalized evaluations of their efforts. With three-year funding from ViiV Healthcare Positive Action and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, amfAR recruited six original partners for the project. In Year II, four additional partners have been added.
Each project has been working with an evaluator to conduct a baseline assessment of specific indicators of success, primarily focusing on HIV testing and adherence to HIV medications. Results from several Year 1 partners are expected by December 2013, with additional results ready for presentation at the International AIDS Conference 2014, taking place in in Melbourne, Australia in July, 2014.
2012-2014 Partners
Asociación Hombres y Mujeres Nuevos de Panamá (AHMNP) (Panama City, Panama)- $24,000
Evaluator: Dr. Jamilet Gina; Román de Marquínez
Dr. Jamilet Gina Román de Marquínez [3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing HIV testing and sexual risk-reduction counseling uptake among GMT in three rural provinces (Chiriquí, Bocas del Toro, and Ngöbe-Buglé) through community skills-building and awareness-raising activities.
Alternatives-Cameroun (Doula, Cameroon) - $24,000
Evaluator: Care and Health Program (CHP)
[5th year of partnership] The project is increasing HIV testing and sexual risk- reduction counseling uptake among GMT in Douala through street and electronic outreach, and training health providers in GMT-friendly services.
Bandu Social Welfare Society (Dhaka, Bangladesh) - $23,919
Evaluator: Kamal Hossain
[3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing the quality of and access to healthcare services for GMT living with HIV, as well as decreasing HIV-related stigma among GMT communities throughout Bangladesh.
GrenCHAP (Caribbean HIV/AIDS Partnership – Grenada Chapter) (St. George, Grenada) - $24,000
Evaluator: Dr. Kamilah Thomas-Purcell
[2nd year of partnership] The project is increasing HIV testing and sexual risk-reduction counseling uptake among GMT, as well as increasing knowledge and safer-sex practices among GMT in St. George through group and individual empowerment programming and healthcare provider training.
SIBALT (Siberian Alternative Center) (Omsk, Russia) - $24,000
Evaluator: Dr. Olga Gorodetskaya
[3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing knowledge, safer-sex practices, and uptake of sexual-health services (including HIV testing, counseling, and care) among GMT in Omsk through bar and club outreach, as well as providing community empowerment programming at a community center.
SOMOSGAY (Asunción, Paraguay) - $24,000
Evaluator: Dr. María Inés López González
[3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing knowledge of sexual health and human rights and the uptake of sexual-health services (including testing and counseling) among GMT in Asunción through street outreach, as well as providing community empowerment programming at a community center.
2013-2015 Partners
ALFIL Association, HGLBT, Identities in Dialogue (Quito, Ecuador) - $24,066
Evaluator: Rodrigo Albuja
[3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing HIV testing and sexual risk-reduction counseling uptake among GMT (majority being transgender), as well as increasing knowledge and safer-sex practices among GMT in Quito through individual counseling and other demand creation activities.
Asociación Solidaria para Impulsar el Desarrollo Humano (ASPI-DH ARCO IRIS) (San Salvador, El Salvador) - $24,000
Evaluator: Ana Cisneros
[3rd year or partnership] The project is increasing HIV testing and sexual risk-reduction counseling uptake among GMT by training healthcare providers about GMT-friendly spaces.
Collaborative Network of Persons Living with AIDS/ Belize (CNET+) (Belize City, Belize) - $26,594
Evaluator: Sergio Montealegre
[3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing the quality of healthcare services and addressing antiretroviral (ARV) adherence issues among GMT living with HIV through home visit counseling sessions and patient navigation practices.
IshtarMSM (Nairobi, Kenya) - $26,000
Evaluator: Samuel Munyuwiny
[3rd year of partnership] The project is increasing HIV testing and sexual risk-reduction counseling uptake among GMT through a “Super Mobilizers” program that offers trainings in community engagement and behavior change communication.