About the Company: K-Rep Bank is a micro finance institution that is part of the K-Rep Group, which consists of the K-Rep Bank, K-Rep Advisory Services (consulting) and K-Rep Development Agency. The company has about 400 employees most of whom are under 30 years old. K-Rep Bank employs the most people within the group as the consulting arm has just over 30 people and the Development Agency has about 50 people.
HIV/AIDS in Kenya: Although Kenya has been hit hard by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there have been signs of reductions in prevalence at the national level. In its 2005 epidemic update, the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), reported a prevalence rate among adults of about 7%, down from an overall prevalence of 10% in the late 90s. According to UNAIDS, the most dramatic drops in prevalence have been among pregnant women in urban Kenya, especially in Busia, Meru, Nakaru, and Thika from a prevalence of 28% in 1999 to 9% in 2003. But UNAIDS also warned that the death rates could be higher than the rates at which new infections are occurring.
Working with IFC Against AIDS: IFC Against AIDS and K-Rep Bank began working together in Spring 2004 with the aim of establishing the company's workplace HIV/AIDS program. In February 2006 representatives from K-Rep Bank attended a training session on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of corporate HIV/AIDS programs which was conducted by IFC Against AIDS in Nairobi, Kenya. The basis of this training is the Practical Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating Corporate HIV/AIDS Programs, a copy of which IFC Against AIDS has given to K-Rep to enable the company monitor and measure the effect of its HIV/AIDS activities.
HIV/AIDS Action Plan: K-Rep’s HIV/AIDS program is predicated on awareness creation and prevention. The company has drafted an AIDS policy and appointed a focal point, Fidelis Mbagara, a human resources manager who manages the program with the assistance of the medical committee. The committee comprises 5 members: 1 representative from each of the 3 companies in the K-Rep Group, and an additional 2 from K-Rep Bank itself. The focal point and the medical committee members together crafted an HIV/AIDS action plan, and IFC Against AIDS is working with them to set realistic priorities and involve the staff in rolling out the program. The committee, which meets once a month, appointed 26 champions in each of the group’s operational locations to manage the activities of the AIDS program. The champions educators, all of whom have had training on HIV/AIDS issues, talk about the disease during the weekly meetings at each of the branches, and provide quarterly reports to the focal point. Additionally, the company is performing an informal assessment of the internal and external context in which it operates in its 26 sites. This assessment will enable the company to know their internal capabilities in terms of operationalizing HIV/AIDS activities, as well as surveying the external environment to identify local resources and partner organizations to help them with implementation.
Education and Prevention Programs: Education and prevention activities are a major component of K-Rep’s HIV/AIDS program. All company training has a component on HIV/AIDS where peer educators lead discussions and exchange of ideas. In addition, all staff have gone through the Federation of Kenya Employers Code of Conduct for HIV/AIDS in the workplace. The code is encapsulated on posters that have been posted around the company’s operations.
Extension to the community: Some outreach work is being done through the champions who provide information to customers through direct one-on-one contact and through flyers.
Future plans
- Plans are underway to have an official launch of the company’s HIV/AIDS policy, disseminate it to all the employees, and post copies on notice boards in all the company’s operational points.
- K-Rep in collaboration with IFC Against AIDS is to select a service provider to assist the company with the implementation of its program. Reporting to the focal point, the service provider will also conduct training of the staff on HIV/AIDS.
- IFC Against AIDS is to provide K-Rep with a Monitoring and Evaluation Guide to enable the company monitor and measure the effect of its HIV/AIDS activities. IFC will train the company on using the guide.
- Also, there are plans to expand the extension of the program into the community starting with the recipients of the loans the company provides. The company’s business development officers and peer educators will be expected to discuss HIV/AIDS with the loan recipients.
- The company plans to designate an AIDS T-shirt day where all staff would wear T-shirt bearing AIDS messages. This is expected to make the program more visible and better known internally and externally.
