2020

Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is a priority area for the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO). As a cross cutting issue for health/HIV, child protection, early childhood development and education, adolescent development and participation, gender, and disability, an emphasis has been placed on systems strengthening and a longer-term investment in MHPSS to ensure availability, quality and access to a multi-tiered system to meet the needs of children and adolescents, as well as parents and caregivers. This brief presents a snapshot of the multisectoral and adaptive approaches of UNICEF across East Asia and the Pacific to MHPSS during the COVID-19 response, that were undertaken in collaboration with government, civil society, development partners and young people’s networks.

Adolescent and young mothers are a priority population for UNICEF in Eastern and Southern Africa, including those who are affected by HIV. In this region, one in four women aged 20-24 years gives birth before the age of 18 years and 30 per cent of all new HIV infections occur among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years. Studies increasingly show poorer maternal, child and HIV outcomes for this age group as compared to older women. Together with governments and partners, UNICEF has been working to promote differentiated, evidence-based approaches to meet the complex needs of adolescent and young mothers in several countries across the region.

This newly released report describes these efforts in nine countries, highlighting the results achieved and the learning. Key insights include the importance of responsive service delivery and social support as well as working across sectors. Also offered are ways in which policy makers, researchers, programme managers and implementers can strengthen HIV and health services for adolescent and young mothers and their children.

Adolescents have the lowest rates of retention in HIV care and ART adherence when compared to other age groups. It is essential for programmers to better understand the adolescent HIV care pathways in sub-Saharan Africa, where public HIV services have been decentralised throughout the region. This evidence and programming brief is the first in a new series focusing on programming for adolescents living with HIV developed in collaboration with Oxford University and the University of Cape Town. It provides a summary of evidence from a systematic review of adolescent care pathways in low- and middle-income countries, a longitudinal community-traced cohort of ART-initiated adolescents in South Africa, and qualitative interviews with HIV care providers. The brief additionally highlights key considerations for strengthening programming and services for adolescents living with HIV.

Recognizing the harmful impact that COVID-19 and related lockdown measures pose for the HIV response, governments across ESA region are implementing interventions to sustain hard won gains toward ending AIDS. UNICEF country offices in support of governments and in collaboration with community and international partners have stepped up with evidence-driven and innovative interventions to protect continuity of HIV services. This compendium provides a summary of the innovative approaches being taken across nine HIV priority countries, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 

The AGYW Programming & Implementation Repository contains resources relevant to AGYW programming that have been collated to support enhanced implementation and programming of Global Fund Catalytic Funding for HIV prevention among AGYW in Eastern and Southern Africa. Developed in collaboration with Global Fund in response to an identified need from the SEA sub-region, we are confident that you will all find the repository useful in your support of national AGYW programmes.

The repository is housed on Google Drive and is accessible without a Gmail account. The resources are organized in folders by key programming area and are easily searchable through a google sheet. Powerpoint slides have also been developed to help you navigate through the repository.

The spreadsheet and slideshow are available for download above.