Bonepwa

30/09/2026

Happy 60th Independence Day Botswana wa rona 🇧🇼🇧🇼

29/09/2026

Two years later… are we still listening?

In 2022, 1,645 people living with HIV across 24 districts in Botswana shared something deeply important:

What does stigma actually feel like when you are the person living with HIV?

The Botswana PLHIV Stigma Index 2.0 brought together BONEPWA+, GNP+, NAHPA, UNAIDS and other national stakeholders to listen, document and turn lived experiences into evidence.

And some of what people shared still deserves our attention.

- 13% had never disclosed their HIV status to anyone.

- 28.7% experienced internalised stigma, including feelings of shame and guilt.

- 21% felt that HIV had negatively affected their ability to meet basic emotional and social needs.

And here is the part we should not overlook:

Knowing your rights does not always mean feeling able to claim them.

While more than half of respondents knew that laws existed to protect people living with HIV from discrimination, very few people who experienced rights violations took formal action.

So, two years later, why are we bringing this up?

Because stigma does not have an expiry date just because a report was published.

The findings continue to remind us that discrimination is not always loud or visible. Sometimes it looks like silence. Fear of disclosure. Shame. Isolation. Or simply choosing not to seek help because you are afraid of how you will be treated.

For communities of people living with HIV, these are not just research findings. They are lived realities.

And for the HIV response, they are a call to keep asking:
- Are people safe to disclose?
- Do people know and feel able to claim their rights?
- Are our services truly stigma-free?
- Are people living with HIV meaningfully shaping the solutions?

The Stigma Index showed us what becomes possible when communities generate the evidence about their own lives — and partners come together to make those voices count.

Two years on, the evidence is still speaking.

The question is: are we still listening? ❤️

Take a look at today's infographic and revisit some of the findings from the Botswana PLHIV Stigma Index 2.0.



UNAIDS National AIDS & Health Promotion Agency Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+)

24/09/2026

13/09/2026

The name the brand the people.. we love you ❤️💞

31/07/2026

17/06/2026

05/06/2026

Yes.. lets continue to stand together as women and as men against GBV!!

Thank you Matlhogonolo Charitable Society for your continued efforts to bring your community together.. ❤️

02/06/2026

During the candlelight service, we had this beautiful performance from Tau ya Sekgwa