In most countries, Fast-Track City work is mutually reinforcing. It brings together projects directly benefiting people, support for city-wide processes, and strategy, including through direct programmatic support. In Windhoek, partnerships between the city, institutional supporters such as the Fast-Track Cities project and civil society are creating robust strategies that can be translated into real outcomes on the ground.
A revised plan has been developed to take into account the recommendations of a recent mid-term review. This includes a UNV volunteer for communications, who takes care of documentation and report writing. Public health and community aspects of the response are primarily delivered through partnerships with civil society organizations. A key element of this is population-based interventions targeting key and vulnerable populations.
The CSOs targeted specific vulnerable groups with appropriate interventions to improve the uptake of HIV prevention, testing and treatment services and promote adherence. Interventions provided through the Resource Centre included interpersonal communication IPC sessions for individual clients, as well as 20 adherence support group sessions. Clients were referred to health centres for HIV counselling and testing, where they were also able to access same-day initiation of treatment or pre-exposure prophylaxis PrEP as necessary.
KDO also provided prevention commodities, including 8, condoms and 2, lubricants, and co-facilitated IAPAC training-of-trainers for peer educators. Weekly support group meetings for those who had enrolled in treatment provided education about antiretroviral medicines and the importance of adherence. Members were able to support each other, with the added assistance of student social workers. Skills training and job placement were provided where sex workers had inadequate incomes, while counselling on personal issues was provided by student social workers to those who needed it.
The support group meetings also helped participants to identify goals and thus counter feelings of hopelessness. When KDO staff noticed that clients were not seeking care after referrals, they began to accompany them to health centres. Like KDO, ORN has worked with the city to increase access to services through community outreach and the documentation of lived experiences, with a focus on men who have sex with men and transgender women.
