HIV-related philanthropy to Western and Central Africa in 2021:
As a complement to Philanthropic Support to Address HIV and AIDS in 2021, this regional profile provides a new level of data to help inform the advocacy of funders and communities active in the region. To spotlight the important role of capacity building and technical assistance, FCAA invited a grantee perspective from Espace Confiance—a grantee of Sidaction—in Côte d’Ivoire.
2021 Western and Central Africa: Top 10 Funders
2021 Western and Central Africa: Top 5 Intended Use of Funding (US$)
2021 Western and Central Africa: Top 5 Populations of Focus (US$)
2021 Western and Central Africa: Recipient Countries (US$)
Espace Confiance
Prevalence of HIV in Côte d’Ivoire was 2.1% among adults in 2020, representing one of the highest prevalence rates in West Africa. Key populations are much more affected, with rates reaching 4.8% among sex workers and 7.7% among gay men and MSM.
More projects should be developed to address the needs of those most impacted by HIV in Côte d’Ivoire, including creating safe spaces where people can access HIV testing and ART without any moral judgment or legal barriers.
Espace Confiance is an organization based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, that was created in 2004 by medical doctors. The organization has been funded by Sidaction for almost 15 years. Our services, free of charge, include prevention and care support related to HIV and STIs for the most stigmatized population. From the beginning, Espace Confiance has been renowned as a safe and welcoming space for sex workers and progressively extended its services to LGBTQI+ communities, including MSM and transgender people. The organization is also involved in advocacy for human rights and legal assistance for key populations.
Private philanthropy is a key source of support for our organization. Sidaction’s grants make it possible to develop the overall activities for key populations and more specifically, for sex workers and LGBTQI+ people. This flexible funding covers a large part of human resources and core expenditure, which makes it possible to improve access to prevention, including PrEP, for the most stigmatized populations; provide medical and psychosocial support; and carry out advocacy activities. It also gives the indirect means to develop some implementation research related to injectable PrEP accessibility and notification of gender-based violence. Thanks to private and public funding, Espace Confiance can reach more than 12,000 people in the country (sex workers, LGBTQI+ people), deliver PrEP to almost 500 people, and provide access to care for 700 people living with HIV.
From its creation onwards, Sidaction was asked by several grantees to complement its financial support with some capacity-building activities aimed at strengthening organizations, improving the quality of interventions, and providing tools to manage growing financial resources in an efficient way. With Espace Confiance, as well as with most other grantees, Sidaction is proposing a global package that includes funding of core expenditure and human resources, technical and financial support for annual accounts certification, and specific training related to each organization’s main intervention area.
