#zerodiscrimination is up to you – Catalonia (AECS)

Name of the activity: #zerodiscrimination is up to you

Country/NMO: Catalonia (AECS)

Program: HIV/AIDS & Other STIs

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Campaign

General description:

The proposed activity will have three different actions:

1- An online campaign sharing videos and materials as infographics and visual content to create curiosity towards what Zero Discrimination is and about how to advocate for it.

2- Trainings in two different formats:
2 hours training in health sciences faculties covering Zero discrimination in healthcare topic for all AECS-Catalonia members and healthcare students delivered by AECS trainers.
A two days training covering Zero discrimination in healthcare topic for all AECS-Catalonia members and healthcare students delivered by AECS trainers and experts in the field form APFCIB (Family Planning Association from Catalonia and Balearic Islands), Observatory Against Homophobia, Observatory for SRHR and others.

3- create a long term Advocacy Taskforce to develop a policy statement (PS) about Zero discrimination in healthcare and develop an active defense strategy of it through the associative network that provides the 1st of December Committee. (explained in next section). This way we’ll have a channel to disseminate it and contact with other associations which will also allow us to contact with institutions and stakeholders.

Focus area:

Removing stigmatization and empowering people living with HIV, STIs and HIV/AIDS political advocacy

Problem statement:

According to the latest report available, during last year in Catalonia there’s been 781 new HIV cases which represents 2 cases per day. In health sciences schools there are still stigmatizing expressions and behaviours used everyday during lectures and internships. Furthermore, students have an obvious lack of knowledge and skills when it comes to address the needs of people living with HIVand how to provide a free-stigma service and environment.

We believe future healthcare providers must have an active role in changing different aspects of our community as it is education, politics or the healthcare system.

In the AECS-Catalonia SCORA team, members lack experience in impactful advocacy and policy making. Many times we reach our fellow students through trainings and small projects, which we believe make a change in our closest environment. However, the impact we have is limited, and we think we need to reach further, getting in touch with institutions and stakeholders to have an intersectional/global/holistic?¿ impact in our communities.

The 1st of December Committee is a platform of NGOs from all over Catalonia working on HIV and AIDS response and it’s the most relevant organism when it comes to advocacy and policy making from a human rights based approach. More information here. In order to achieve a greater impact in our advocacy efforts, joining the platform of NGOs would give us the opportunity to develop policy making skills, get to stakeholders and provide us new capacity building spaces leaded by students and experts in the field together. However, in order to participate in the Platform, every member association needs to pay a fee which covers the expenses of the activities and advocacy efforts of it and AECS cannot cover the fee so far.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

Health sciences students from Catalonia and indirectly their future patients. Also stakeholders (mostly at a local level) that develop health policies and strategies.

Objectives and indicators of success:

Objectives:
1) Reduce stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV in the healthcare sector.
2) Increase our NMO advocacy work.
3) Build capacity within our NMO active members in advocacy, policy making and tackling discrimination in healthcare.
4) Access new capacity building (CB) spaces regarding SRHR and collaborate with experts in the field in the CB spaces that we already have as NGAs and SCORA Weekends.
5) Create a network between all standing committees at a national level so all active members are engaged with ensuring a zero discrimination in healthcare.
6) Get to know the point of view of other professional sectors (as social workers, activism movements, lawyers…) in order to gain an intercultural and interprofessional perspective.
7) Networking with other relevant organizations and advocating for meaningful youth participation to cover our needs and requests in healthcare.
8) Be an active part of the most relevant platform when it comes to HIV and AIDS response at a national level getting members to know how advocacy happens in Catalonia in that field.
9) Get new materials and resources to share with our members and collaborate in the platform campaigns.
10) Having new media channels to promote our activities and be present in relevant events so other organizations get to know AECS.

Indicators:
1) At least 50 health sciences students attend the CB spaces and ⅓ of them get involved in future projects in their local comittees.
2) At least three projects linking differents local comittees are put into action in the following year.
3) A representative of the NMO attends the Platform meetings regularly and collaborates actively.
4) Presenting at least to new policy statements regarding the topic to be adopted in the spring NGA
5) At least AECS collaborates on one Platform’s campaign preparations per year

Methodology:

– Online campaign: sharing infographics and videos educating and raising awareness zero discrimination and how to advocate for it. (from 10th-20th dec)
– Actively collaborate with the 1st of December committee and its member associations in the development of CB opportunities and developing activities together. (from becoming members till the end of the term)
– Deliver trainings and CB spaces in order to raise awareness among our members about the issue and give them the tools to become #zerodiscrimination advocates. (the first training will be the 13th dec as a pilot project at a local level delivered by AECS trainers and the CB weekend the 16th-17th feb)
– Develop a strategic plan on how to work towards zero discrimination from now till 2019, including the zero discrimination agenda perspective in all our projects with the collaboration of the trainees. (feb-march)
– Evaluate and follow-up of the trainings and CB spaces. (long term follow up)
– Develop a task force to develop a Policy Statement on Zero Discrimination in Healthcare and present it in our NGA for the adoption of all our members.(december-april)
– Adopt the PS that we find relevant from other member organizations.
– Collaborate in the joint statements proposed by the Platform itself.

Plans for evaluation:

Count and analyse the number of likes, views and shares of posts in social networks
To have an evaluation form which participants of the CB Weekend will have to fill in.
National coordinators of every Standing Committee involved will be the in charge of keeping in touch with everyone working on the activities to guarantee everything is progressing smoothly.
Weekly updates through an excel document to know how tasks are going and if help is needed.
Create a report once the activity ended including a section for every action.

Follow up activity: during the training sessions there will be an open space for members to create activities to implement in their local committees or at a national level for Zero discrimination Day and to develop a strategic plan to keep working on the topic during the whole term.

National coordinators of every Standing Committee involved will be in charge of all activities being developed and will keep track of the process and provide help when it’s needed in order to have a multiplier effect and we reach as much people as possible.