HIV/AIDSJuly 2005 - August 2006 The largely underserved and most-at-risk populations in Mongolia for new HIV/AIDS infections are female sex workers and their clients. With sexually transmitted infeciton (STI) rates high and condom use very low among both groups, these populations are highly vulnerable to infection. Despite this observation, only a few small HIV/AIDS pilot projects have been initiated in the country. The most successful of these is a 100% Condom Use Program that was launched by the government of Mongolia in 2002 in Darkhan, where the provincial STI prevalence rate among sex workers is 78%. The Pact Mongolia HIV/AIDS Program is funded by USAID and has as its strategic objective to increase the use of effective responses to HIV/AIDS in the Greater Mekong Region. Specifically, this program will focus on increasing prevention interventions for female sex workers, the primary at risk population in Mongolia and will include a focused behavior change communication TV campaign to increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS among the general population as well. Through increased public awareness it is hoped that there will be a significant reduction in HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. Pact's approachPact Mongolia will produce a 26-part educational soap opera based on an education-entertainment format to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and to teach internationally accepted responses to such issues as stigma, HIV/AIDS in the workplace, care and support, and voluntary testing and counseling (VCT). The series will also address related issues such as human trafficking, TB, and other relevant health issues. Pact Mongolia will use the 100% Condom Use programming principle as the model for its work with sex workers and their clients in Ulan Bataar. In partnership with the National AIDS Foundation (NAF) we will implement the following activities through subgrants to NAF's partner NGOs:
In addition Pact will develop the capacity of the National AIDS Foundation by funding a full-time program officer at NAF, training NAF staff on grants management, and training NAF staff on organizational capacity assessment. Pact will also work to increase the number of NGOs implementing targeted HIV prevention and care programs for most at risk populations throughout Mongolia. Interim ResultsThis program is in a start-up phase. The 26-part soap opera TV series will begin preproduction in August 2005, with production and post-production scheduled for November 2005 ? January 2006. Weekly broadcasting is set to begin in March 2006.
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