Choma Online Magazine

Established in 2013 with seed funding from the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and GIZ,
Choma Magazine engages young women and girls through a mix of fun, relatable, and
informative content.
The magazine’s primary purpose is to educate and empower young women and girls on HIV,
and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). By providing accessible information,
Choma supports informed decision-making, promotes healthier lifestyles, and contributes to
reducing HIV incidence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW).
Choma exists because AGYW remain highly vulnerable to HIV in South Africa. Every week, roughly
1,000 AGYW are newly infected, and they account for about 25% of all new HIV infections despite
being a smaller demographic. High rates of gender-based violence, sexual abuse, and coercion
continue to be major drivers of these infections, highlighting the urgent need for education,
support, and empowerment for this group.

With funding from GlobalGiving, HIVSA continued to fund the salary of a moderator on Choma online magazine to provide much needed psychosocial support to girls and young woman. What we achieved in this period:

We interacted with 9,756 users on our website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok social media platforms. The Moderator was able to provide online support to close to 100 users across all social media platforms where users needed help with psychosocial challenges at home, school/work and in personal relationships.

The most commonly read content related to:

• Understanding myths and misinformation about HIV intection - what is true and what is not true about HIV infection;
• Endometriosis awareness;
• Sexual and reproductive health for young women including contraception, PrEP choice and PEP access (most young people do not access sexual and reproductive health services at clinics due to lack of information as well as poor service delivery at publich health care clinics).

Psychosocial support provided:

• Young women struggle with depression and anxiety, specifically related to unemployment, relationship challenges, gender based violence;
• Young women report being disempowered to negotiate condom use in relationships, thereby exposing them to potential HIV infection;
• Young women have experienced some form of abuse in their lives, which impacts their ability to form and experience lasting and positive, healthy relationships.

Links:

• https://www.facebook.com/ChomaMagazine
• https://choma.co.za/

• CHOMA_ANNUAL_REPORT_2025_5.pdf (PDF)