True Manhood Campaign

The themes and communication approaches for True Manhood were developed through a consultative process involving young people and stakeholders in sexual and reproductive health. The process began with a review of transactional sex and gender-based violence research and was further informed by original qualitative research conducted on knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning alcohol in Uganda. YEAH then facilitated a 4-day participatory True Manhood Campaign Strategy Design Workshop in March 2008 to present the evidence, identify the themes for the next phase of the campaign, and determine intended audiences and communication objectives.

During the Strategy Design Workshop, participants conducted a problem analysis to identify the issues that the campaign needed to address for each thematic area. For transactional sex, participants agreed that the key challenge is the prevailing attitude that men are entitled to sex for gifts and that women are obligated to give sex in exchange for gifts. Young people's lack of skills, knowledge, and credible role models were also identified as a barrier. The "culture of silence" surrounding VAW emerged as the primary concern in this area. Participants found that the wide acceptance of the practice - particularly among young people - to be especially problematic. In addition, young people, males in particular, lack skills in non-violent conflict resolution and are not necessarily aware of the health consequences related to VAW or the associations between alcohol and VAW. Participants agreed that the next phase of the campaign needed to create awareness about what constitutes alcohol abuse and emphasise the dangers of alcohol abuse.

A national contest was central to the campaign strategy. It involved a search for the "Be a Man" man - a man who is faithful to his partner, respectful of women, non-violent, does not abuse alcohol, is honest, and who discourages other men from engaging in transactional relationships. The True Man regional contests were held during August 2009 in the central, northern, eastern, and south-western regions. Five finalists in each of the regions were drawn from the 555 True Men that were nominated across Uganda and were put to the test in front of the audience by puppet characters and the community.

The national contest is complemented by the radio serial drama "Rock Point 256" and its accompanying comic books, radio spots, and billboards. YEAH is also building on the ongoing training for trainers and supervisors for peer educators and community volunteers using the Men and HIV/AIDS Training Manual and integrating sessions on transactional relationships, non-violent conflict resolution, and alcohol.

The campaign also uses interpersonal activities such as facilitated discussions using trigger videos, forum theatre, and Life Choices DVDs for men and for girls. Men and women participating in these activities receive fact sheets and illustrated booklets about men and HIV/AIDS, VAW, alcohol, and transactional sex. YEAH is also developing a simple, fun self-assessment card that men and women can use to see if they are misusing alcohol. These will be distributed during public events and to people who write into YEAH.

According to YEAH, all True Manhood campaign activities fall within the context of The Road Map Towards Universal Access to HIV Prevention in Uganda (UAC 2007), which feeds into the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS Activities 2007/8-2011/12. These include using strategies to:

• emphasise involvement of males in prevention programming and service delivery;
• focus prevention on vulnerable and higher risk groups, including young people;
• advocate for positive change in cultural and sexual norms which encourage high-risk sex, i.e. a man must have multiple sexual partners to be recognised as a man;
• build AIDS competence through engaging individuals, households, and communities in prevention work involving enhancing risk perception and personalisation within specific settings; and
• identify and address through programming and advocacy the social, cultural, religious, and economic factors that impact on behaviours and service uptake to ensure responsive programming.

True Manhood campaign materials, such as posters, can be downloaded from the YEAH website.

HIV/AIDS, Youth, Alcohol Abuse.

YEAH's first campaign, "Something for Something Love", focused on transactional sex, defined as "exploitative relationships where sex is given in exchange for favours, material objects, or money." The second campaign, "Be A Man", addressed masculinity and male gender norms. Phase I of Be a Man centred on: faithfulness, non-violence, couple counselling, and testing for HIV; subsequent disclosure of results; and care and respect. The True Manhood Campaign is the next phase of this campaign. Transactional sex, VAW, and alcohol were identified as focus areas for True Manhood given their relevance to and prevalence among Uganda's young people, their associations with HIV risk, and their connections with one another.