Progress and change: Avert’s 2023-24 annual report
The latest Avert annual report is both a celebration of a successful final year of our current strategy, and a milestone signalling a new chapter for our work.
Published on 19 July 2024 | Emma Collingbourne
2021–24 has been a highly successful strategic period for Avert, during which the organisation launched our information and education brand Be in the KNOW across web and social, and continued to develop and scale Boost, our digital job-aide for community health workers (CHWs). Over the last year we have continued to invest in and strengthen these two high impact products, as well as use our expertise to support new digital communication innovations focused on young people, in collaboration with partner organisations in South Africa and Mozambique.
In its second year, the Be in the KNOW brand has reached over 13 million people across sub-Saharan Africa, with nearly 4 million engagements with its sexual health education content on social media and over 323,000 engaged web users. The brand has successfully continued to provide independent, sex-positive, evidence-based content for individual advice seekers, educators and frontline health practitioners.
“It’s really taught me things I didn’t really know about sex. I love it, thank you. I AM IN THE KNOW!!!”
Over the past year, the reach of Boost continued to grow across East and Southern Africa, with over 115,000 new self-motivated users of the web version across the region, bringing the cumulative total since launch to over 174,800 users. Nine new content units were added, and all content was made available in Shona and Ndebele, the two main languages in Zimbabwe, to increase accessibility.
In partnership with OPHID in Zimbabwe, Boost has been rolled out to 464 community health workers who are using it to support their daily client interactions, ensuring accurate information on a range of health issues is shared with confidence . Over 220,000 client screenings have also been carried out through the app leading to over 93,000 referrals to local health services. Four additional organisations, with hundreds more CHWs, are now in the process of adopting Boost.
"Working with the Boost application has helped us a lot because it gives me confidence in assisting my clients on a daily basis. For example, if I come across a challenging question, I will reply to the application so that it guides me."
As well as our own brands, Avert has worked in partnership with REACH Digital Health to deliver Young Africa Live in South Africa. Avert was the content and social media marketing partner on the project that used social media channels and a chatbot to reach young people in South Africa with engaging content to support their sexual and mental health.
Within just nine months, over 100,000 conversations were started on the chatbot, which also linked young people to wider services. There were nearly 9 million engagements with the social media content developed and marketed by Avert.
"I could ask [the chatbot], especially the questions I could not ask the people around me. I feared judgment so much, but on this platform, I can also ask about those topics I would be shy about. I learnt a lot.”
Time for change
Our latest annual report continues to demonstrate the significant value and impact of our work, through the success of the brands we have created and contributed to, and the responses of the people we reach. However, we recognise that the HIV response and the wider development sector is changing, and that we too must evolve to continue building the sexual health literacy and self-efficacy of a new generation.
Our new strategy is to transition our key brands to local owners in East and Southern Africa. This is built upon a strong and creative sustainability plan that will enable ongoing impact and growth. This new strategy takes into account the changes in the HIV sector, including funding and policy changes, that require new ways of working and immediate action. Only through proactively responding and adapting to these changes can we achieve the UNAIDS Global Goals by 2030.
The Avert transition is a bold and exciting move that supports localisation efforts and protects the investments already made in our work. By the end of December 2024, we will have completed a planned and supported transition of Be in the KNOW and Boost to organisations in East and Southern Africa who share our values and have the skills and expertise to continue growing and developing the brands. Completing the transition will then mark the start of a process to formally close Avert.
The decision to transition and close was not taken lightly. But with the support of our staff, trustees, donors and partners, we are confident it is a decision that will ensure our work continues to benefit millions of individuals, community health workers and health practitioners each year, and add value to the wider HIV response.
More information on the transition and the selected transition partners will be available over the coming months through our Avert news channels.
Photo credit: Gulshan Khan/Avert/Ikusasa Lethu. Photos are used for illustrative purposes. They do not imply health status or behaviour.