DREAMS Innovation Challenge: Applying data to increase impact of HIV/AIDS Prevention for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Uganda

Uganda is home to an estimated 1.3 million people living with HIV, including 6.2 percent of adults aged 18-64. Adolescent girls and young women are affected disproportionately by the HIV/AIDS epidemic: HIV prevalence among this group is four times higher than their male counterparts.2 Without timely interventions and forward-thinking policy, adolescent girls and young women in Uganda are at risk of being left behind. Ensuring a Uganda where these “girls develop into Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe women” is the goal of the DREAMS program, a multibillion-dollar partnership between a cross-cutting group of development partners, non-governmental organizations, and philanthropic foundations led by the U.S. Department of State. In 2016, the DREAMS partnership launched an Innovation Challenge (DREAMS-IC), managed by John Snow Inc. (JSI). As a component of DREAMS-IC, AidData, a research lab at William & Mary in the United States, collaborated with the Toro Development Network (ToroDev) in Uganda to address evidence gaps applying data to increase the impact of interventions for people living with HIV, particularly adolescent girls and young women.

Funding: This project was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI).