Sage Semafara is the Chief Policy and Partnerships Officer at Partners in Health (PIH)-Rwanda. Before joining PIH, she worked with various Government and Non-Governmental Organizations, including the Rwanda Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (RRP+), where she was Executive Secretary. In that capacity, she coordinated the community HIV and TB services across health facilities in Rwanda in collaboration with stakeholders. Sage also worked with the Rwanda Ministry of Health as an Analyst under the Human Resource for Health Program, overseeing the onboarding and orientation of faculty from more than 13 high-ranked U.S. universities. She also worked with the German Cooperation (GIZ) as the Services Coordinator, managing safety, procurement, and contracts. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in Human Resources from Oklahoma Christian University and is currently completing her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Rwanda.

IVLP Impact Award Project: URASHOBOYE: Promotion of Gender Equality and Capacity Strengthening Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women Living with HIV in Rwanda

URASHOBOYE means “you are able.” The project will strengthen the capacities of communities to ensure that women, girls, men, and boys, in all their diversity, practice and promote gender-equitable social norms. It will assist communities practice gender equality and work together to end gender-based violence and to mitigate the risk and impact of HIV among girls and young women living with HIV in Rwanda, specifically in the rural Kayonza District. Public speaking capacity of targeted girls and young women leaders and ambassadors will be strengthened. Men and boys will be engaged as champions to conduct community-based advocacy campaigns on the role of men and boys in addressing gender norms and stereotypes towards HIV prevention, treatment and ending domestic violence.

So far, Sage has organized a stakeholders’ introduction meeting with District leadership, Rwanda Biomedical Center, and health facility leaders to discuss project objectives, implementation models, and roles and responsibilities. She has also contracted a community communication expert to develop key messages on gender norms for a community campaign and organized two two-day training sessions for adolescent girl ambassadors and a separate training for boys and men to promote gender equity, prevent HIV, and end domestic violence in the Kayonza District, Rwanda.  

Sage has also printed flyers for the community campaign and organized a technical working group to select and approve key messages on gender norms and stereotypes about HIV prevention and treatment. Sage aims to “strengthen the capacities of communities to ensure that women and girls, men and boys in all their diversity, practice and promote gender-equitable social norms and gender equality and work together to end gender-based violence.” 

 

 

“If we want to achieve global health equity, we need to ensure to leave no one behind and put the communities at the center.”- Sage Semafara

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Sage participated in the IVLP Project Mitigating Challenges in Women’s Health, organized by the U.S. Department of State and American Councils for International Education, in partnership with GlobalPittsburgh, Global Ties Iowa, International Center of the Capital Region, and San Diego Diplomacy Council.

Sage’s exchange experience led to the development of her project: “I was inspired by the incredible mission of Family Health Centers of San Diego to provide affordable, high-quality health care and supportive services to everyone, with a special commitment to uninsured, low-income, and medically underserved persons, how they organize public health campaigns addressing health concerns through education/outreach.”

U.S. Communities Visited

San Diego, CA; Washington, DC; Iowa City, IA; Albany, NY; Pittsburgh, PA

Country: Rwanda

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