Be in the KNOW is a digital brand, across website and social media, offering fresh, sex-positive sexual health content primarily for individuals across sub-Saharan Africa, and for the community health workers and primary practitioners that support them.

Ownership of Be in the KNOW was handed over to Well Made Strategy’s Kenya Comms Hub (KCH) in December 2024, as part of Avert’s wider transition strategy. Be in the KNOW supports KCH’s wider narrative and social change work across Kenya, East Africa, and the wider region.

Covering sex and relationships, prevention and testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as how to live well with HIV, Be in the KNOW is packed full of advice and health information, videos, quizzes, blogs, discussion starters and much more to keep things fun as well as evidence-based.

For those working with young people on sexual health, as well as community and primary health workers and others on the frontline of HIV and sexual health services, there is easy to understand information on what drives the epidemic, who is affected and what’s happening where you are, along with the latest on best practice in HIV programming and delivery.

Be in the KNOW was a central pillar of Avert’s 2021-24 strategy to close the HIV knowledge gaps and build health literacy in locations and with people most affected.

Between 2020 and 2022, Be in the KNOW was co-created with the people it was trying to reach, ensuring its relevance while also building on the evidence and learning from Avert’s long-running global HIV information and education site Avert.org, which reached tens of millions of advice seekers and HIV professionals over its lifetime. (Avert.org closed in 2022 when Be in the KNOW launched.)

Be in the KNOW was launched in March 2022 and by the end of 2024 when it was handed over to KCH, it had reached over 32 million people across sub-Saharan Africa on the web and social, with high engagement rates.

Its actionable content built knowledge, confidence and people's ability to take decisions to support their sexual health. It also provided community and primary health workers with the knowledge they needed to support their communities’ sexual health.

In an evaluation in 2024, over 99.6% of users said information was relevant to them and other young people, 86.2% said it was easy to find what they were looking for, and 84.5% found the site useful. As a result, over 90% said they had learned something new, 91.8% said their attitudes to sexual health had changed, and 94.8% said they were more likely to look after their sexual health.

The evaluation provided strong evidence that both the web and social media components of Be in the KNOW influenced behavioural determinants such as knowledge, confidence and self-efficacy. For some this led to accessing specific services, while for all it had a valuable impact in its own right, in terms of individuals’ personal growth and happiness, and their ability to self-care and manage their own health and health choices.

• “I now become more confident about safe sex and I am willing to take HIV test to know my status.”
• “It has really made me change my lifestyle and my health also has changed.”
• “I'm the huge fan of Be in the KNOW. I benefit a lot from this digital platform.”
• “Amazing information on the STIs and cleared a lot of doubts that I had which has convinced me to go for testing.”
• “It’s giving me confidence that even though I’m HIV positive, I can still live a healthy life.”
• “My questions were answered and my knowledge has increased.”
• “It helps me to make positive decision.”
• “I recently tested positive and the information that I read reassured me that HIV is not a death sentence. That HIV is a manageable disease if I adhere to my medication as prescribed, and that I can have a meaningful and loving relationship with a negative person."