Red Umbrella GLO Evaluation

The Red Umbrella GLO Programme is an economic empowerment intervention for sex workers that was developed and managed by NACOSA with funding from the Global Fund. The prevention and treatment of HIV among sex workers requires not only a clinical approach, but also strategies to address the structural barriers that increase sex workers’ vulnerability to HIV including legal, social and economic factors.  A process evaluation of the pilot by Impact Consulting for NACOSA looked at implementation, outputs and outcomes to make recommendations for a next phase or possible scale-up.

Providing support for sex workers is the not the same as other populations with regards to economic empowerment – they have dependants, responsibilities, they work at the same time, they face danger, they have real costs. It is hard to get them to focus on such a programme, and mentorship is key to keep them in the programme. – NACOSA PROGRAMME STAFF

The evaluation found that the GLO training had good outcomes for sex workers, allowing them to manage their money better, plan differently, and take charge of their lives with more confidence as they started to feel more positive about their lives. It also makes a number of recommendations for programme processes and potential scale-up of the intervention.