More than five percent of girls and women in Kenya are living with HIV. Among men, the figure is only 2.6 percent. Women most often contract HIV during adolescence, for example because they lack sufficient information or have unprotected sex. While living with HIV, they are often excluded from their communities. When they then have a child, they face multiple discrimination. This project empowers these young women and helps them to build a future for themselves and their children.

Young mothers living with HIV often encounter particular difficulties in caring for themselves and their child. To counteract this, DSW organises dialogue events in this project to raise awareness about the stigma of “living with HIV”. In addition, affected mothers get access to anti-retroviral therapy and other important health services from the public health system and learn the basics of a healthy lifestyle, e.g. healthy nutrition. Last but not least, they are supported to participate in political and social decision-making processes.