Horizons Projects | Beacon of Light: The Girl Guides Program—Mitigating the HIV Impact in Kenya by Involving Young Girl Guides and Their Parents

HORIZONS PROJECT
Beacon of Light: The Girl Guides Program—
Mitigating the HIV Impact in Kenya by Involving Young Girl Guides and Their Parents

HIV infection rates among young Kenyan women outnumber those of young men by nearly six to one. Younger adolescents (10–15 years old) get most of their information about sexuality from their peers, who need to be equipped with accurate information and skills in order to better carry out their communication role.

The Kenya Girl Guides Association (KGGA) reaches over 100,000 school-going adolescents and has recently embarked on a "Peer Education on HIV and AIDS Prevention" program to equip girls and their peers with information and skills regarding HIV prevention and care.

The program trains Guide Leaders who in turn train Girl Guides in their respective units. Girl Guides then share information on HIV and AIDS among themselves and with peers in their schools, churches, and neighborhoods. Currently 775 schools and 342,435 girls are participating in the program. In addition to its work in Kenya, the program has trained Girl Guides from 28 other African countries.

Horizons evaluated the impact of this program in 57 primary schools in Rift Valley and Coast Provinces. The evaluation found that the Kenya Girl Guides Association’s HIV/AIDS Peer Education Program had a positive impact on the Girl Guides’ social well-being, support for gender equity, attitudes toward people living with HIV, and HIV-related knowledge. But the program would need to be strengthened to extend the program’s positive results beyond the Girl Guides to their peers. Recommendations for the program include:

Strengthen program implementation.
Focus on increasing self-confidence and competence among students.
Continue to address gender equity.
Incorporate informational and other strategies to reduce stigma.
Continue to promote abstinence and delay of sexual debut.
Address sexual activity among males.
Ensure the provision of materials.
Better brand the peer education program.
Engage Guide Leaders in discussions before expanding the program.
Strengthen program monitoring.

Location

Rift Valley and Coast Provinces, Kenya

Duration

September 2004–June 2007

Horizons and Population Council researchers

Karusa Kiragu, Milka Juma, Tobey Nelson

(For more information about this study, please contact horizons@popcouncil.org.)

Non-Council collaborators

Family Health International/IMPACT Project

Kenya Girl Guides Association

PATH–Kenya

Donor

US Agency for International Development

Publications/Resources
Horizons and Population Council researchers' names appear in boldface type.

2007
Kiragu, Karusa, George Odingo, Milka Juma, Jane Mbugua, Magdalen Waweru, Wamuyu Mahinda, Beatrice Mwaniki, Charity Muturi, Simon Ochieng, Tobey Nelson, and Ann McCauley. “Beacon of hope: Evaluation of the Kenya Girl Guides Association HIV/AIDS program for school children,” Horizons Final Report. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF)

2005
Juma, Milka, Margaret Mwaniki, and Charity Muturi. “Evaluating the Kenya Girl Guides Association’s HIV/AIDS peer education program for younger youth: Baseline results,” Horizons Research Update. Nairobi: Population Council. (PDF)