India Learning Network :

Disseminating learnings from India and Avahan on HIV prevention programming among high-risk groups, and approaches to scale-up

What is the India Learning Network?

India Learning Network is a collaborative project led by FHI360 in partnership with the University of Manitoba (UM). It is established by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through its India AIDS Initiative (Avahan) with a goal of accelerating the control of HIV epidemics in selected countries in Africa and Asia. Through India Learning Network, the team’s combined experiences of implementation of successful HIV prevention approaches with MARPs, including management of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) across India can be disseminated.

African and Asian countries have varied and comprehensive experience in HIV program management, with Africa globally leading the way for scaled up HIV care and treatment programs in generalized epidemics and Asia having diverse capacities in multi-pronged HIV prevention and care programs. India specifically has extensive experience in (implementing and scaling up) prevention interventions in concentrated epidemics. An interactive and focused exchange of learnings can lead to increased knowledge and improved practical skills, with an emphasis on tangible examples of effective addressal of challenges

India Learning Network aims to share and disseminate its learnings and experiences and provide need based technical assistance to select countries in Africa and Asia. Such an effort is expected to influence government programs, country-level policies, manuals and guidelines and implementation plans of international and national NGOs in order to increase coverage of high-risk populations, thereby impacting HIV prevention practices. In exchange India programs can also learn from valuable experiences and learnings, especially about comprehensive and scaled up HIV care and treatment programs, from the selected African and Asian countries.

Where will the India Learning Network work?
The project will focus most of its resources on select countries in Africa and will also provide technical support to select countries in Asia.
East and South Africa: Tanzania and Uganda
West Africa: Nigeria
South East Asia: Thailand
 South Asia: Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

What does the India Learning Network offer?

• Cross learning of best practices of HIV prevention and care and support programs
• Focused and customised technical assistance for transfer of learnings to plan, design, implement and monitor HIV prevention programs.
• Use of innovative learning methodologies (internet-based training courses, video-conferencing and e-tutorials) to provide online and virtual technical assistance to ensure smooth and continuous transfer of learnings.

The program is open to representatives from government, international agencies, local NGOs, and community representatives, to ensure that there is adequate advocacy at all levels, and that learnings from Avahan sites in India are implemented effectively in the field and at policy level.