Khulisa conducted a Behavioural Surveillance Survey among Rwandan, Congolese, and Burundian refugees in Marratane camp, Mozambique. The survey utilised members of camp as data collectors to measure patterns of HIV/AIDS risk behaviours among the refugee population.

Lessons learnt:

  • The Marratane Behavioural surveillance study results have not provided any trends unique to refugees or to suggest that refugees influence the host country HIV/AIDS burden.
  • Refugees easily interact with host communities socially and for economic reasons, so prevention efforts should be integrated into the national strategies.
  • Behavioural patterns of refugee population are not very different across the African region.

Best Practices:

  • Enumerators recruited from the refugee population provided valuable insight and levelled the ground for successful implementation.
  • Selection of participants was proportional to population size and tools were translated to suitable languages
  • Participatory approach to implementation of the study is Khulisa's style to ensure ownership of the study by the client