Livelihood security is an important determinant of HIV risk, care and treatment outcomes and AIDS’ impacts. This study aims at enabling the STOP AIDS NOW! partners to identify areas for more focused intervention with respect to livelihood strengthening in communities confronting HIV and AIDS, a priority in STOP AIDS NOW!’s Strategic Plan 2010-2015.
Ten organizations currently engaged in livelihood strengthening with the support of STOP AIDS NOW! partners were studied in February-May 2011, five each in Uganda and Ethiopia. The organizations are of four types: AIDS service, networks of people living with HIV (PLHIV), rural development and microfinance.
The study is exploratory in nature, seeking to understand how organizations identify, assess and respond to needs for livelihood strengthening and the challenges they face in doing so. It draws on the cross-cutting testimony of 219 beneficiaries, 37 non-beneficiaries, 39 key informants and 36 staff members collected through focus group discussions and individual interviews.
The study is underlain by a review of recent literature on HIV, AIDS and livelihoods and by a conceptual framework that highlights the risks individuals facing HIV and AIDS run when livelihood is insecure and the risks organizations run when responding to these needs.