HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health, Youth.

SAY comprises 9 independent projects located in 8 of southern Africa's most severely affected countries, as well as a sub-regional technical support project (Telling the Story). Through the work of UN country teams, SAY aims to catalyse innovative and expanded national responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic to meet the needs of youth in southern Africa, especially girls, who are most vulnerable to HIV infection.

The project was a direct response of the UN System to the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV/AIDS/STD, 2000-2002. The Zambezia provincial plan on HIV/AIDS, which is being developed as of this writing, is expected to provide a guiding framework for this project. The project is one of the first UN joint responses to HIV/AIDS in Mozambique; as such, it is expected to inform future strategies for UN collaboration in this area. A key effort will be creating linkages with 2 of the 3 other investments of UNF in Mozambique, namely MicroStart Project through UNDP, and Gender Mainstreaming through UNIFEM and UNFPA.

Zambézia was selected as the project site given the well-known correlation between high HIV prevalence and indicators of social welfare, health, and economic productivity. That is, this province has a high rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence, high level of poverty, and a large population (it is the most populated area of the country with approximately 3.1 million people).