Perspectives on Gender in Science, Technology, and Innovation: A Review of Sub-Saharan Africa's Science Granting Councils and Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Africa's focus on science, technology, and innovation (STI) has grown over the last decade, with emerging examples of good practice. There are however numerous challenges to sustainable development in Africa; for example, inequalities within and among African countries are rising and enormous disparities of opportunity, wealth, and power persist. While policy makers and organizations have put increasing emphasis on integrating gender into STI policies and initiatives as a means to achieve gender equality for all women and girls, inequality remains a key challenge to continental sustainable development. STI funders such as the Science Granting Councils (SGCs) in Africa are key players in national innovation systems. They advise and facilitate policy and program development, disburse funds, build research capacity, set and monitor research agendas, manage bilateral and multilateral STI agreements, and assess the communication, uptake, and impact of research. They, therefore, have a major role to play in enabling countries to achieve SDG5. This study assessed the current actions in gender mainstreaming across the SGCs and the status of gender research and collaboration in participating countries. Our findings provide evidence of uneven progress in promoting gender equality in the operations of the SGCs, including funding research and promoting the integration of gender dimensions in research content and curricula. All SGCs emphasized national commitments to gender, and the importance of gender in STI, but acknowledged that at the structural and institutional levels there was a misalignment between policy and practice. As expected, more men than women were employed across most levels at the SGCs and held positions of seniority and decision making. Most of the SGCs had very limited or no gender-related funding programs to promote gender and STI or to eliminate the barriers that women scholars face. This resulted in persistent inequalities in who received funding, the size of the grants they received, and in the knowledge production, collaboration, and the impact on their country's gender-related research. These findings suggest that SGCs need to strengthen their actions to mainstream gender if they are to achieve success with SDG5.

Cross-sectional study assessing HIV-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior in the Namibian truck transport sector: Readjusting HIV prevention programs in the workplace.

The objectives of this study were to assess the current status of HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior (KAB) of employees in the private transport sector in Namibia and to compare companies with established HIV workplace program (WPPs) with those that have recently initiated the implementation of such programs. The study was designed as a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey. Between January and March 2011, the survey was conducted in the Namibian truck transport sector in six companies of different sizes. The participants were selected randomly from the workforce. Data collection was based on a KAB questionnaire. The range of correct answers to the survey concerning the knowledge of HIV transmission was 67-95%. Twenty percent of the employees had never been tested for HIV. Additionally, risky sexual behaviors were quite prevalent and included having multiple concurrent partners and the use of sex for incentives. This study revealed that drivers and laborers were especially at risk for such behaviors. The employees of companies with established WPPs were tested for HIV more often than those of companies with new WPPs; however, aside from this difference, only minor differences were observed between the two groups. The findings of this study highlight the need for on-going HIV information and prevention campaigns that focus on the special needs of mobile and low-income workers. WPPs should be tailored accordingly and shift their focus to more practical approaches, such as voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), to increase their effectiveness.

Cross-sectional study assessing HIV related knowledge, attitudes and behavior in Namibian public sector employees in capital and regional settings.

The study objective was to assess the current status of HIV knowledge, attitudes and behavior (KAB) among employees of Namibian ministries. As most HIV campaigning takes place in the capital of Windhoek, an additional aim was to compare Windhoek to four regions (Hardap, Erongo, Oshana, and Caprivi). Between January and March 2011 a cross-sectional survey was conducted in two Namibian ministries, with participants selected randomly from the workforce. Data collection was based on questionnaires. 832 participants were included in the study (51.6% male). Nearly 90% of participants reported to have been tested for HIV before. Knowledge about HIV transmission ranged from 67% to 95% of correct answers, with few differences between the capital and regions. However, a knowledge gap regarding HIV transmission and prevention was seen. In particular, we found significantly lower knowledge regarding transmission from mother-to-child during pregnancy and higher rate of belief in a supernatural role in HIV transmission. In addition, despite many years of HIV prevention activities, a substantial proportion of employees had well-known HIV risk factors including multiple concurrent partnership rates (21%), intergenerational sex (19%), and lower testing rates for men (82% compared to women with 91%).