What is the ACT Toolkit?

What is the aim of the ACT Toolkit?

• The aim of the Advocacy for Community Treatment (ACT) toolkit is to support and train community activists to advocate effectively and passionately on access to treatment for people living with HIV, including those from key populations.

Why is the ACT Toolkit needed?

• By December 2012, 9.7 million people living with HIV in low and middle-income countries were receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART).– This represents just 34% of the people who are eligible for ART

according to guidelines produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013.

• Access to HIV treatment is still limited due to social, political, and economic factors.

• Community advocacy is crucial to bringing change.• The ACT Toolkit contributes to addressing the knowledge

and skills needed to raise their voices and communicate their needs in the local and national forums where decisions are made.

How was the ACT toolkit developed?

• The ACT Toolkit was developed by partners, staff and consultants of ITPC with extensive, practical experience of community advocacy on access to treatment.

• Drafts texts were tested and improved during training with community activists in four regions: Anglophone Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America.

• The ACT Toolkit has been developed within ITPC’s Community Treatment Access Advocacy Program (CTAAP).

What does the ACT Toolkit contain?

What does the ACT Toolkit contain?

What does each section contain?

• Each Section contains some or all of:– Section Objective– Key Information– Training Materials– Training Options (Options A/B)

• In some Sections, there are also:– Advocacy Messages– Useful Resources

How can the ACT Toolkit be used?

Who and how?

• To be used by community trainers, those who work closely with community activists, such as people living with HIV and members of key populations.

• Designed to be used flexibly – in whatever way is most useful to the trainer and community activists.

• Requires only basic training equipment - a laptop and projector, flipcharts and marker pens.

• Works best if it is part of participatory training. This means training that puts the participants first.

10 Tips for facilitating a participatory workshop

Prepare Yourself Adapt the Training Prepare the Program Prepare the Space Use Available Expertise Set and Enforce Ground-Rules Encourage Participation Work as a Team Ask Your Participants Learn from Experience

itpcglobal.org