ACHIEVE Rwanda has held a meeting with stakeholders to review the project’s impact. During the meeting held on Wednesday 28th September 2022, participants also exchanged ideas on needed measures to continue lifting the livelihoods of beneficiaries and shared experiences acquired throughout the project’s implementation.
ACHIEVE is a project funded by PEPFAR/USAID to prevent HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among orphans, vulnerable children, adolescent girls and young women in selected high burden districts in Rwanda. The programs are implemented through sensitization to enlighten beneficiaries on preventive measures and reduce the amount of HIV in the body.
PEPFAR stands for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief while USAID is the United States Agency for International Development.
Under the interventions of ACHIEVE, adolescents and women with high vulnerability to HIV are assisted by mentors who advise them to take Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a medicine taken to prevent getting HIV and educate them on reproductive health.
They also benefit from capacity building initiatives through vocational training to improve their wellbeing.
ACHIEVE beneficiaries attest that the project has changed their livelihoods and helped them get out of isolation.
Henriette Nyirabahire, who was impregnated at early age testified that ACHIEVE has restored her hope for a bright future.
“I was leading hard life before ACHIEVE’s intervention. I had no hope for a better tomorrow but the support received from the project helped me to move with others along the development journey. Today, I have my own house and have learnt how to prevent HIV infection and protect my life,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry at the Ministry Of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), Mireille Batamuriza said that ACHIEVE came in handy to solve problems affecting families.
“This project came as a solution to many family problems. As MIGEPOROF, we make an effort to build a safe family. ACHIEVE programs aligns with these ambitions to build the family especially drawing attention to female and male adolescents including HIV/AIDS positive ones and teen mothers. They are taught how to adapt to different situations with a view to build safe and resilient families,” she noted.
The core objective for the project’s inception was to prevent new infections and help HIV positive people to access health services easily and reduce the amount of HIV as revealed by Moïse Mutabazi, the Country Project Director.
“ACHIEVE project was initiated to provide a contribution aimed at reducing the severity of HIV, lessen problems facing HIV positive people and assist others with high vulnerability to infections,” he said.
“There are infected people who would not easily access health services to strengthen their immunity. This project encourages them to seek services offered at health facilities and benefit from programs aimed at uplifting them from poverty,” added Mutabazi.
ACHIEVE has so far provided school fees for 6160 beneficiaries including children, adolescents and young women to attend primary, secondary education and vocational training.
Among others ; a total of 14,716 have been enlightened on reproductive health and ways to fight violence.
The project’s interventions have also reached 31,492 young women and adolescents.
ACHIEVE currently operates in four districts.
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