STATE TRAINING AND RESOURCE CENTRE (STRC)

National AIDS Control Programme Phase III (NACP-III) objective is to saturate the coverage of core (FSW, MSM and IDU) and bridge (Migrants & Truckers) population to contain HIV/AIDS transmission through quality Targeted Intervention (TI) programme. There is need to ensure standardize systems and procedures in the intervention for which standard operational guidelines have been developed on NGO/CBO covering all categories of Targeted Interventions giving in detail the implementing procedures, staff requirements and financial implications, the Target groups are - Female Sex Workers (FSW), Men having Sex with Men (MSM, Injecting Drug Users (IDU), Migrants and Truckers. As the Targeted Interventions are implemented through NGOs, quality and capacity building is required for these NGOs. For improved performance and quality training to different categories of staff working with NGOs/CBOs viz. Project Directors, Program Managers, ANM/Counselors, Finance Accountants, Monitoring & Evaluation Officers, Outreach Workers, Peer Educators and link workers is a must. The National AIDS Control Organization has decided to institutionalize the training and capacity building process with the State Training and Resource Center (STRC). STRCs are required to train the various staff of the NGOs based on the various training modules developed by NACO. STRCs should be institutions already conducting trainings of grass root level of workers and should be fully familiar with the various training methodologies. NACO will provide support for extra staff and other operational requirements and the STRC will maximally use its expertise and facilities for these trainings. Hence NACO has identified 21 STRCs in our country covering all the States and Union Territories. Our Institute is one among them covering the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Center for Development Studies - AMR APARD has been identified as the State Training and Resource Center (STRC) for the state of Andhra Pradesh for imparting quality training programmes to the NGOs/CBOs working on Targeted Interventions (TIs) funded by the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (APSACS). National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has given Contract for Consulting Services for management of STRC to Center for Development Studies - AMR APARD on 15th June, 2010.

Objectives

	Ensuring need based quality training as per NACP III' s technical and operational guidelines.
	Development of local resources like facilitators for training, demonstration sites to ensure that the skill development process is sustained.
	Enhancing the capacity of NGOs and civil society organizations in proposal development for NACP funded targeted intervention projects.
	Understanding operational research and learning site development.

Academic Committee:

STRC to constitute an Academic Committee of not more than 10 -12 persons consisting of academicians (who have wide experience of training in professional institutions), trainers (experts who are fully conversant with the methodology of teach and pedagogy and can add vale to the trainings conducted by STRC), representative from established NGOs imparting training at gross root level (in any sector), social workers, representatives of the community, TI partners and one representative of SACS.

The tasks of the Academic Committee will be to:

• - During January for development and approval of the annual work plan to be incorporated in the AAP of the SACS.
  - During May to review the work conducted by STRCs as per the approved annual work plan and undertake mid-term corrective action, if any.
  - During September for evaluation of trainings so far conducted and proposed next step.
  - Conduct performance appraisal of the staffs and recommend for remedial action.
  - STRC in consultation with the members of the Academic Committee will identify, orient and use local resource persons in different parts of its operational area.

Academic Committee Meeting minutes

Resource Centre:

STRC to establish a documentation centre (Including e resource site ) where in training materials, literature, tool kits, other resource manuals and materials in the form of audio-visuals aids, case studies, documentaries, etc. pertaining to HIV/AIDS in particular and the health sector and development in general collected and compiled. Inclusion of other areas such as livelihood, education, micro-credit to create linkages and developing a multi - sect oral approach would be desirable.

Best Practices:

STRC is responsible of documenting the best practices of field experiences as per the criteria given by NACO. STRC will identify the best practices (e.g.: 100% referral to ICTC by a TI or a Peer) in coordination with TSU and SACS in the state and document the same. STRC will use this as examples in the training and share it with NACO or national level sharing.

Scope of Work of STRC
1) The Consultant will be responsible for training the various categories of staff working in Targeted
Intervention projects:

2) STRC will identify agencies / resource persons at State / District level to train all the field staff based on the prescribed modules, tools and aids. Efforts should be to organize such training on site level so as to give hands on training.

3) The field visits are a must to understand the skills developments of the various categories of staff trained by STRC. The field visit need to ensure assessment that the skills are improved and also find out the gaps in the skills that are required to implement the TI programme as desired under NACP III.

4) The consultants are not to evaluate / monitor the TI programme neither they are supposed to discuss any matter related to the administration / policies / financial matters with the TI.

5) NACO will provide prototype of teaching - learning materials / aids. Consultant to adapt them to local need, if required, translates in to local language and ensures distribution to the trainees. STRC shall adapt the structure of training course / module as per local need.

6) Develop case studies; design teaching aids; organize filed visits; develop evaluation and assessment tools; grade the trainees in order to identify those needing further training and attention; repeat training and undertake any other activity required to make the training knowledge as well as skill based.

7) STRC will identify, hand hold and manage sites which can be used for demonstration purposes and learning sites, so that these demonstration sites can be used for cross learning purposes by the state.

8) Provide to the client (NACO/SACS) within a week of completion of the training course, a detailed report as prescribed specifically grading participants to help identifying these needing repeat training or additional help.

9) The faculty of State Training Resource Centre will be responsible to deliver the training load.

Trainings:

1. Ensuring need based quality training as per NACP III' s technical and operational guidelines.
2. Enhancing the capacity of NGOs and civil society organizations in proposal development for NACP funded targeted intervention projects.
3. Understanding operational research and learning site development.

Annual Training plan 2013-14

Quarterly Plans 2012-13

Workplan 2012-13

Training Plan & Achievement 2012-13

Training Plan & Achievement 2011-12

Training Plan & Achievement 2010-11

Training Modules

Scope of STRC trainings:

The STRC will be responsible for training the various categories of staff working in Targeted Intervention projects and other related personnel:

Pre - training:

During training:

Post - training:

Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and Transgenders (TGs):

The term "Men who have Sex with Men" (MSM) is used to denote all men who have sex with men as matter of practice, regardless of their sexual identity or sexual orientation and irrespective of whether they also have sex with women or not. Coined by public health experts for the purpose of HIV/STI prevention, this epidemiological term focuses exclusively on sexual practice. This term does not refer to those men who might have had sex with other men as part of sexual experimentation or very occasionally depending on special circumstances. It should be noted that not all of those who engage in male to male sex do not necessarily identify themselves as homosexuals or even men.

There are several subgroups among MSM. For the purpose of TIs these groups are identified as below:

Hijras:

Hijras belong to a distinct socio religious and cultural group, a "third gender" (Apart from male and female). They dress in feminine attire (cross-dress) and are organized under seven main gharanas (clans). Among the hijras there are emasculated (castrated / nirvana) men, non-emasculated men (not castrated, akva/akka) and intersexed persons (hermaphrodites). While one subset of hijras is involved in blessing and gracing during births, marriages and ceremonies, another is involved in begging and a third group is involved in sex work for the purposes of TIs, hijras are covered under the term "transgender" or TGs.

Kothis:

The term is used to describe males who show varying degrees of "femininity" (which maybe situational), take the "female" role in their sexual relationships with other men and are involved mainly - though often not exclusively - in receptive anal sex with men. Some proportion of kothis has bisexual behaviour and many may marry a woman. Self identified hijras may also identify themselves as kothis. Many kothis assume the gender identity of a woman.

Double Deckers:

Kothis and hijras label those males who both insert and receive during penetrative sexual encounters (anal or Oral sex) with other men as Double Deckers. These days, some proportion of such persons also self identify themselves as Double Deckers. Some equivalent terms used in different states are Double Duplikothi (West Bengal) and DoParatha(Maharashtra).

Panthis:

The term panthi is used by kothis and hijras to refer to a "masculine" insertive male partner or anyone who is masculine and seems to be a potential sexual (insertive) partner. Some equivalent terms used in different states to denote masculine insertive partners are Gadiyo (Gujarat), Parikh (West Bengal) and Giriya (Delhi).

Female Sex Workers (FSWs):

FSWs have many sexual partners concurrently. Generally full time FSWs have at least one client per day or at least 30 clients per month and nearly 400 per year. Some FSWs have more clients than others, having several clients per day and 100 or more clients in a month.

Street based:

Sex workers are those who solicit clients on the street or in public places such as parks, railway stations, bus stands, markets, cinema halls. They may live in a brothel and may entertain their clients in a lodge, car, truck, hotel room, at the client's home, in a cinema or in a public place.

Brothel based:

Sex workers are those whose clients contact them in recognized brothels, that is buildings or residential homes where people from outside the sex trade know that sex workers live and work, this includes sex workers in Kamathipura in Mumbai and Sonagachi in Calcutta and also smaller scale brothels in Districts such as Sangli, Baghalkot in Maharashtra and Chilakuluripet in Guntur. Typically a brothel is a place where a small group of sex workers is managed by a Madam / Gharwali) or agent. Usually the sex worker pays a part of her earnings to the gharwali.

Lodge based:

Sex workers are those who reside in what is known as a lodge (a small hotel) and their clients are contracted by the lodge owner, manager or any other employee of the lodge on the basis of sharing profits. These sex workers do not publicly solicit for clients.

Dhaba based:

Sex workers are those who are based at dhabas (road side resting places for truckers and other long distance motorists) or road side country motels. Like lodge based sex workers these sex workers do not publicly solicit for clients, but rather accessed by clients who come to these locations. In some cases dhaba based sex workers are also contracted by dhaba owners and could move from dhaba to dhaba based on their contacts. Sex workers can be categorized in to six categories.

Based on where they work (i.e., recruit clients) and not where they live or actually entertain the clients.

Programmes that attempt to reach out to sex workers in their residences can be problematic, especially if the sex worker is "anonymous" at her home and practices sex work without the knowledge of her family.

Home based or "secret" sex workers operate usually from their homes, contacting their clients on the phone or through word of mouth or through middlemen (e.g., auto drivers). Generally they are not known to be working as sex workers in their neighboring areas. In fact they could have an entirely different "public" identity - e.g., housewife, student. While many sex workers operate "secretly" given the level of harassment, violence and stigmatization they experience from the police, the rowdies and the members of general public, for the purpose of TIs, the term "secret" sex worker refers to a specialized category of sex workers as explained above. They are only "secret" or "anonymous" in terms of their identity in their immediate contact (e.g., family neighbourhood) not in terms of accessibility to programmes or their clients.

Highway based:

Highway based sex workers are those who recruit their clients from highways, usually from among long distance truck drivers. There are other sex workers whose primary occupational identity may vary but a large proportion of their occupation group, but not all, often engages in commercial sex regularly and in significant volumes, Bargirls, Tamasha artists and Mujra dancers come under this category.

The categories used here are overlapping and fluid, for example, a sex worker may be street based for some time and then go in to a contract with a lodge owner to become lodge based. Or a brothel based sex worker may move to another town or city temporarily and work as a street based sex worker.

Typology of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs):

IDUs are injectors at all times in their injecting lifespan. They may inject then fall back in to non-injecting (e.g., oral) drug use, or abstinence and then return to injecting. Thus IDUs are defined as those who used any drugs through injecting routes in the last three months. In addition to addressing IDUs, IDU programmes should ensure that they also address the regular sexual partners of IDUs as many of them are likely to be infected and some them may be IDUs too. It is equally important to remember that some IDUs might be sex workers or MSM and some of them are also female.

Hotspot:

A geographical area demarcated by a definite boundary (e.g., town, city, village) is referred to as a "site". Areas within a site where there is significant concentration of HRGs are referred to as "hotspots". Within hotpots HRGs may solicit, cruise and interact with other HRG members or have sex or share injecting drugs.