2. Participatory Research and Action as a Capacity Building Tool for Understanding and Addressing Girls’ HIV-Related Vulnerabilities Jennifer McCleary-Sills, PhD MPH Social and Behavioral Scientist International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) jmccleary-sills@icrw.org XIX International AIDS Conference July 24, 2012

3. ICRW’s Mission: To empower women, advance gender equality and fight poverty in the developing world. To accomplish this, ICRW works with partners to conduct empirical research, build capacity and advocate for evidence- based, practical ways to change policies and programs.

4. A project built on partnership: ICRW: research methodology, qualitative assessment, gender-responsive research and programming, Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods TAMASHA: community-based activism, programming, youth development, training expertise, peer education Vijana Tunaweza Newala (Vitu Newala): young people, roots in the community, energy and new ideas

5. Project Overview Sept 2009-Jan 2010: Partnerships established Protocol developed and revised January-July 2010: Ethical review and approvals July 2010: Training of TAMASHA researchers Training of youth researchers Pilot of PLA sessions August 2010: Conducted participatory formative research

6. Project Overview October 2010: Intervention design workshop with youth researchers and community stakeholders October-November 2010: Design program model (ICRW, TAMASHA, Vitu Newala, Pact Tz)

10. This presentation was made possible by the support of ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action program.