UNICEF - Equatorial Guinea

In partnership with UNICEF Equatorial Guinea, illuminAid implemented a landmark Video Education Workshop series in Malabo and Bata (July 2025) to advance adolescent HIV prevention through youth-led, community-based video communication. This initiative forms part of UNICEF’s Adolescent Development and Participation Programme (ADAP) and embodies illuminAid’s core mission: equipping local changemakers with sustainable media tools to create, share, and own their narratives.

Over two intensive, four-day trainings, 46 youth participants—including six UNICEF consultants—were trained in participatory video production, editing, and ethical storytelling using solar-powered camera, projector, and recharge kits. Participants created seven original videos addressing themes of HIV stigma, gender inequality, peer pressure, and mental health, with all content produced in Spanish and designed for low-literacy audiences. Each video drew directly from community realities, dramatizing the choices, risks, and resilience of Equatorial Guinea’s youth.

By the end of the workshops, the youth teams had created original videos addressing HIV prevention, stigma reduction, adolescent health, and gender norms—topics chosen by the participants themselves to reflect their community realities. Each video was screened during a facilitated community dialogue session, fostering peer-to-peer education and opening space for honest, local conversations around sensitive health topic

Quantitative outcomes reflected strong skill gains and high participant confidence. Beyond skill-building, the workshops generated deep engagement and enthusiasm. Participants frequently stayed after sessions to continue editing, while Local Video Trainers provided bilingual facilitation that bridged cultural and linguistic gaps. The resulting atmosphere of peer learning fostered teamwork, creativity, and long-term ownership.

The workshops also served as a launchpad for a yearlong Capacity Development Program (June 2025–June 2026). This follow-up phase, co-led by illuminAid and UNICEF, will support ongoing youth-led video production and local screenings reaching hundreds of youth across urban and rural communities and collect beneficiary feedback to assess comprehension and behavioral change in HIV prevention.

Ultimately, this initiative demonstrates how participatory media can transform health education systems—turning adolescents from passive recipients of information into active agents of prevention and social change. illuminAid is proud to support this innovative model for youth engagement and behavior change communication. By combining creative technology, behavioral science, and grassroots leadership, this initiative offers a powerful blueprint for participatory, scalable, and evidence-based SBCC strategies throughout the region and beyond.

Discipline: Women’s Rights, Education, Sexual and Reproductive rights

Location: Malabo and Bata, Equatorial Guinea

Partner: UNICEF

Project Date: June 2025 - June 2026