South Africa

The population of Eastern Cape Province (“Eastern Cape”) is 6.67 million people, 95% of whom speak Xhosa as their first language.

Eastern Cape has a 40% adult unemployment rate and a very high level of illiteracy.

According to official statistics (Eastern Cape Department of Health – ECDoH 2007) 26% of people aged over 18 in the Eastern Cape are HIV+, i.e. around a million people; Human Sciences Research Council research generated a figure of 31%. The latter figure seems to be nearer the reality.

Click for: 2010 UNGASS progress report

National Network

The National Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS (NAPWA) in South Africa is a non political, non-discriminatory, non governmental, not for profit membership based organization that does not discriminate based on race, age, creed, sex and sexual orientation. NAPWA  has nine (9) provincial offices, with more than 500 branches and a countless number of ever increasing support groups spread across the country. NAPWA –South Africa enjoys a membership of more than 300 000 drawn in from Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape Province.

For more information about NAPWA click here.

Campaign Platform

The World AIDS Campaign has been involved in South Africa since 2009. 

Our current work in the Eastern Cape brings together various government departments, notably Education, Health and the South African Police Service, with a range of NGO’s representing, among others, women, youth, PLHIV and traditional leaders. All these people and institutions have committed to working together in the fight against gender-based violence and its contribution to the spread of HIV in the province. They operate in an environment where the laws are high quality and yet the reality of implementation is not; for example, there is inadequate allocation of resources to effectively implement the legislation.

For more information about the South African campaign platform click here.