Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and is also the second widest freshwater body in the world. Its extensive surface is shared between three countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, all members of the East African Community (EAC).
Lake Victoria supports Africa's largest inland fishery that supports almost 2 million people with household incomes and meets the annual fish consumption needs of almost 22 million people in the region1.
| Studies have shown that numerous factors contribute to the vulnerability of fishing communities to HIV/AIDS, including living in remote locations, mobility of fishers, daily cash income, cultural norms affected by living way from home, the lower status of women in many cultures, higher ratio of men to women at fish landing beaches and attitudes to risk. |
The EAC/AMREF Lake Victoria Basin Partnership (EALP) is a program of the EAC, coordinated by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and managed by AMREF aiming at establishing a framework for improvement of HIV/AIDS response among mobile populations within Lake Victoria Basin.
Project Goal
The goal of the EALP is to reduce the risk and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among mobile populations within the Lake Victoria Basin region by:
- Strengthening the capacity of the EAC, its key institutions and select regional networks to coordinate HIV/AIDS responses in the Lake Victoria Basin region
- Promoting the harmonisation of HIV/AIDS policy frameworks and practice for mobile populations across the East African region
- Strengthening the capacity of select networks and organisations of mobile populations to address HIV /AIDS related risks and vulnerabilities
[1] Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation
