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Burundi: MSM HIV/AIDS Needs Assessment

In the African nation of Burundi, homosexuality is generally considered immoral, going against religious norms that pervade this deeply religious country. Many Burundians consider homosexuality an import from the West, and it is generally regarded as taboo. Despite laws that protect basic human rights, homosexuality has recently been criminalized in Burundi, with President Nkurunziza having called it a "curse." Such stigmatization forces men who have sex with men (MSM) to go underground, so much so that people are often unaware of the presence of MSM in Burundi. Because of having to remain secretive, it is difficult to assess and distribute information relevant to these individuals, thus making it difficult to develop appropriate responses, such as HIV prevention, for this vulnerable population.

Summary

In partnership with the Association pour le Respect et les Droits des Homosexuels (ARDHO), Burundi's only sexual minority group, Heartland Alliance is conducting a research study to analyze the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors as well as the health and social needs of the MSM population in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura. Heartland Alliance is providing logistical and technical assistance to ARDHO to carry out this study, which aims to reach MSM in Bujumbura with a comprehensive health and human rights inquiry, focusing on HIV prevention, care and support needs. The information acquired though this study will allow ARDHO – with the ongoing support of Heartland Alliance – to reach out to funders with concrete needs and informed project proposals, paving the way for comprehensive MSM prevention and care programming in Burundi. Through this study, this project will contribute to an understanding of the composition, prevention needs and effective outreach methods to improve access to HIV prevention information and commodity provision to MSM in Bujumbura.

Activities

To address the lack of information on the MSM population in Burundi, Heartland Alliance is:

  • Supporting ARDHO in implementing a respondent-driven study identifying MSM knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, as well as social and health needs;
  • Supporting ARDHO in analyzing and operationalizing the findings of that survey to inform the development and implementation of high-quality MSM-targeted HIV programming;
  • Contributing to the development of long-term, research-informed MSM HIV prevention programming that will ultimately lead to safer sexual practices among MSM in Burundi, to improved civil society responses to MSM and lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) issues, especially around health and security, and to improved access to clinical and non-clinical care for MSM in Burundi.
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