South African Model

In 2000, the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) began collaborating with the South Africa Departments of Health, Education, and Social Development and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a 5-year national consultative process to establish standards of practice for rigorous peer education suited to the nation's needs in the pandemic. One outcome was the establishment in 2007 of the Centre for the Support of Peer Education (CSPE) as the linchpin of a national intersectoral system to strengthen peer education as an essential prevention methodology.

The Centre's mission is to work at scale to build the capacity of South Africa's stable institutions to use their access to children, youth, adults and families to deliver meaningful doses of prevention education and integrated early intervention and support. CSPE works with a range of governmental and nongovernmental partners in settings that include schools, clinics, faith-based organizations, sports programs, and worksites as well as communities. It provides training and ongoing technical assistance, materials development, advocacy, networking, and monitoring and evaluation support.

The comprehensive South African model is designed for an environment with a generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic. While much of this model may be applicable to other countries and health issues, we anticipate considerable adaptation to the cultures, contexts and characteristics of other partners.