What We Do – AWPCAB

Our Mandate

Making the Choice Agenda a reality

The board is composed of 14 women from 7 countries representing East and Southern African nations. Our main focus is to ensure the Choice Agenda and Manifesto are accessible and become a reality for all women once new prevention options are rolled out, from research consultations to national policy spaces, keeping women and girls at the centre of every decision that shapes HIV prevention.

Learn More Sign the Manifesto

How We Work

Four pillars of our work

AWPCAB advocates speaking up in a community meeting

Advocacy

Advocacy & Accountability

Amplifying community voices and holding decision-makers accountable for prevention choice, access, and investment.

Research

Community Engagement in Research

Bringing women's experiences into trial design and review so prevention science reflects real lives and real needs.

Leadership

Leadership & the In-Action Academy

Building the skills, confidence, and networks of champions to lead conversations and challenge misinformation.

Manifesto

The Choice Manifesto

A collective declaration calling for comprehensive, women-centred HIV prevention solutions across the region.

AWPCAB at a Glance

A movement, by the numbers

A board built by and for African women, carrying community voice into the rooms where HIV prevention decisions are made across Eastern and Southern Africa.

14 Women leading the board

Fourteen women from seven countries form AWPCAB, representing East and Southern African nations and carrying community voice into national, regional, and global HIV prevention spaces, from WHO Guideline Development Groups to regional think tanks.

African women advocates celebrating together with raised fists

7 Countries represented

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, a movement rooted across Eastern & Southern Africa.

13 Manifesto commitments

The Choice Manifesto sets out a collective declaration calling for comprehensive, women-centred HIV prevention solutions across the region.

2023 Choice Manifesto launched

Launched in Kampala, Uganda, and endorsed by UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima alongside regional women's groups.

Advocacy & Accountability

Carrying community voice into the rooms where decisions are made

AWPCAB members represent women and girls in national, regional, and global HIV prevention conversations, from WHO Guideline Development Groups to regional think tanks. We advocate for informed choice, equitable access, and sustained investment in the full range of prevention options.

Community Engagement in Research

Prevention science that listens to women

For more than a decade, African women advocates have engaged with HIV prevention trials, reviewing study plans, breaking down results, and ensuring options for women remain a priority. This work has shaped consultations on landmark studies and kept community accountability at the core of prevention research.

Our Journey

From the first Global CAB to the Choice Manifesto

AWPCAB's work is rooted in years of advocacy led by African women committed to expanding prevention choice and ensuring communities have a meaningful voice.

2010

Advocating for choice

Advocating for Contraceptive Options and choices – the first Global CAB, ECHO trial and options and choice agenda in the ECHO Trial and recommendations.

2016 · Dec

HPTN 084 consultation

HPTN 084 consultation and pre-meeting with advocates on trial design and plans.

2017 · Aug

Building partnerships

HPTN 084 consultation to review the study plans and build partnerships.

2018

Tracking the trial hold

Advocates tracked the trial hold on HPTN 084 following data on NTD related to DTG, which is in the same class of drugs as CAB.

2019

Following the trials

Advocates continue to follow the enrollment and conduct of trials.

2020

Trial data & efficacy

March: HPTN publishes and presents trial data, noting the presence of ‘masked infections’ and testing considerations. Advocates break down trial results (e.g. conferences sessions, webinars, materials and briefs, etc.)
May: HPTN 083 early efficacy data.
Mid to late-2020: Planned communications & advocacy around result scenarios for HPTN 084 results, ensuring options for women remain a priority; engaged in consultations /webinars around key issues; updated materials.
November: HPTN 084 early efficacy data.

Community session unpacking trial results

2021

Preparing for long-acting PrEP

Advocates prepare for introduction of CAB for PrEP; other projects (BioPIC, MOSAIC, ViiV) focused on introduction kick into high gear.

WHO/AVAC Think Tanks on implementation studies and HIV testing, with active participation of advocates.

2022

The formation of AWPCAB

March: Advocates participate in WHO Guideline Development Group, and release statements with demands around cost and manufacturing.
March/April: ViiV meets with African women’s health advocates in South Africa, leading to the establishment of the African Women Community Prevention Accountability Board and subsequent bi-monthly meetings.
May: Workshops, think tanks (e.g. BioPIC), and consultations continue with CS.
June: Advocates meet with UNAIDS to discuss the choice agenda; publication of Translating Scientific Advance into Public Health Impact: A Plan for Accelerating Access and Introduction of Injectable CAB for PrEP; HPTN meeting with updates on OLE.
July: ViiV/KP Advisory Group consultation; AIDS 2022: launch of Coalition to Accelerate Access to Long-Acting PrEP, and announcement of voluntary license between MPP/ViiV, data from 083 (TG populations) and 084.
Aug – Dec: CS involvement and leadership in implementation studies (linked with MOSAIC), BioPIC think tanks, CAB for PrEP Teach-in series, Coalition to Accelerate Access to Long-Acting PrEP CS caucus, AfroCAB working groups, etc.

2023

Launch of the Choice Manifesto

Jan/Feb: Advocates await updates from MPP on the selection of generics while continuing to engage with ViiV, provide input into implementation studies, and engage with national governments around registration for and rollout of CAB for PrEP.
Feb: Preliminary findings that show protective levels with quarterly injections are presented at CROI.
IWD 2024: “We celebrate African women in the Fight to end New HIV infections.”
May: Let Women LEAD – Interest Conference, Mozambique.
September: Launch of the Choice Manifesto in Kampala, Uganda, endorsed by Ms Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director, with regional women’s groups.