Uganda:
"Go-Getters" Fight Cross-Generational Sex
KAMPALA,
Uganda— PSI
Go-Getters
clubs, a pilot program for young women to
build self-esteem and improve risk
perceptions of cross-generational sex, have
attracted the attention of influential
officials and dignitaries in
America
and
Uganda
and are receiving a positive response from
the young women they reach. Go-Getters clubs
have started at three Ugandan universities,
working with local businesses, which provide
skill-building internships, and enlisting
local faith-based groups to train their
members as peer educators.
Kent Hill, head of USAID's Global Health
Bureau, attended a Go-Getter's function
at
Makerere
University
in March and had a chance to interact
with the club members directly. At the
subsequent briefing session with PSI he
said that he was impressed with this
program and asked about the potential
for replicating it in other countries.
PSI defines cross-generational sex as a
sexual relationship between a man and a
woman with at least a 10-year difference
in age. Research with girls aged 14-17
who have had such relationships revealed
that the girls' short-term goals took
precedence over the risk of long-term
consequences, including HIV infection.
The benefits for these girls were often
as little as a plate of chips, a mobile
phone, clothes or cosmetics. Focus group
discussions provided the basis for the
development of the Go-Getters program
targeting girls in their first year of
university education.
Since December, PSI has been working
with the First Lady of Uganda, Mrs.
Janet Museveni; the Queen of Buganda,
Her Royal Highness Sylvia Nagginda; and
other role models to condemn
cross-generational sex and mobilize
social support against the practice. HRH
Sylvia Nagginda is the chair of PSI/Uganda's
Board of Advisors.
PSI/Uganda has a strong HIV/AIDS
prevention program that promotes
abstinence, mutual fidelity, condom use,
voluntary counseling and testing and the
prevention of sexually-transmitted
infection and mother-to-child
transmission. In 2004, PSI estimates
that its products and services in
Uganda
prevented almost 7,000 HIV infections
and 272,000 unintended pregnancies.
A young woman's decision to attend
university demonstrates ambition, but
once introduced to the uninhibited
environment of campus life, young women
are subject to a variety of social and
financial pressures — social pressures
to fit in with and look like their
peers, and financial pressure to
maintain this image. The university
setting, therefore, provides the perfect
breeding ground for cross-generational
relationships. Older men have recognized
and capitalized upon this.
The Go-Getters clubs are funded by the
U.S. Agency for International
Development via AIDSMark and run by PSI-trained
peer educators to impart life skills,
raise risk perception of HIV infection,
cultivate confidence and self-esteem and
encourage young girls to look beyond
short-term gratification and plan for
long-term goals. The program starts with
the premise that the exchange of sex for
a plate of chips or a mobile phone is
not only degrading to women but is
simply not worth the risk. The desired
outcome is motivated, career-focused and
goal-oriented women.
The program is being piloted in the
three main universities of
Kampala. PSI
will use existing university faith based
networks to implement the program in one
of the three universities. During
recruitment for the clubs, PSI worked
with the University's Muslim, Catholic,
Anglican and Seventh Day Adventist
groups. Peer educators from each of
these groups will be trained to guide
the club members through the 12-month
program. Fortnightly Go-Getters club
meetings follow an activities guide.
Through these activities, girls are
encouraged to discuss issues related to
cross-generational sex and to appreciate
the risks they pose both in terms of
health and the attainment of their
goals.
Monthly talks and presentations will be
held using successful, local women from
various professional backgrounds to give
the girls tangible evidence of what they
can achieve and tips on how to do it.
Local businesses are being lobbied to
provide internships for the members of
these clubs. Girls will be placed
according to their ambitions to provide
extra impetus for them to focus on their
long-term goals. Coca Cola has agreed to
mentor ten interns and are offering
full-time positions to two of them.
Although still in its initial phase, the
Go Getters clubs have received an
overwhelmingly positive response,
particularly from university
administrations that acknowledge this
as a critical intervention to counter a
growing trend among their female
students.
—
Twebese Rukandema, PSI/Uganda
March 22, 2004
From Population Services International
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