Ethiopia initiative to promote condoms to housemaids launched (Press release)

14 May 2009: DKT Ethiopia and TOTAL Ethiopia have formed a groundbreaking partnership to run a pilot project to promote condoms to housemaids and other low-income women.

Housemaids are particularly vulnerable to HIV because of their gender and age as well as isolating employment conditions. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that many housemaids turn to sex work upon quitting domestic work, at which point they can be highly vulnerable to HIV. One of the few locations to reach housemaids is at kerosene sales points.

The pilot, called Condoms and Kerosene, will raise the awareness of housemaids and other kerosene buyers about condoms. It will include daily condom demonstrations and distribution at the Sidist Kilo (“Lions”) Total Station.

The opening ceremony for the pilot took place on Saturday 9 May 2009 at Sidist Kilo (“Lions”) TOTAL station, Addis Ababa. Speeches were made by the TOTAL Ethiopia MD, Bernard Lacaze, DKT Co-ordinator Ken Divelbess, Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS Executive Director, Tadesse Tekallign and TOTAL Ethiopia Marketing Manager, Hervé Huclin. Invited guests included representatives from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Education.

The pilot will run for 60 days.

“As with all TOTAL’s Sustainable Development Responsible Programs, this project targeting low-income vulnerable women, is addressing the needs of the communities we serve and we are proud to be partnering with DKT Ethiopia on this ground-breaking activity" --Bernard Lacaze, MD, TOTAL Ethiopia

“DKT strives to reach all sectors of society with condom messaging and promotion – this pilot between DKT and TOTAL has the potential to reach an as-yet unserved group.” -- Ken Divelbess, Coordinator, DKT

The partnership is supported by the Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (EBCA), the World Bank Institute, the Rapid Results Institute and Timret Le Hiwot (TLH).

About EBCA

The Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (EBCA) was set up in 2004 when local businesses, concerned about the impact of HIV/AIDS, agreed to launch a collaborative national business coalition. EBCA is a membership body which now helps coordinate and mobilize the business response on HIV/AIDS and other social responsibility issues in Ethiopia. To date it has mobilized over 100 businesses reaching out to more than 40,000 employees and over 150,000 family members. www.ebca-hiv.org

For further information please contact:
Amy Fairbairn, Communications Adviser, EBCA
Tel: +251 (0) 11 629 8104 or +251 (0) 911 66 66 01
Email: amy@ebca-hiv.org