Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, completely surrounded by its only neighboring country, the Republic of South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name Lesotho translates roughly into the land of the people who speak Sesotho.

The HIV epidemic and poor sexual and reproductive health has remain a big challenge for Lesotho. The country’s maternal mortality ratio has increased almost threefold over a period of eight years, rising from 282/100 000 to 419/100 000 and to 762/100 000 live births in 1996, 2001 and 2004 respectively. The country also has the third highest HIV prevalence in the world at 23.3% (Lesotho Demographic Household Survey, 2009).

The overall aim of the project is to support Lesotho in addressing barriers to efficient and effective linkages between HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights policies and services as part of strengthening health systems and to increase access to and use of a broad range of quality services and achieve the goals of universal access to reproductive health (MDGs 3, 4 and 5) and HIV prevention, treatment, care and support (MDG 6) by 2015, while making relevant linkages with the education, gender and legal sectors.

Partners

• UNFPA
• UNAIDS
• Ministry of Health, Lesotho

To find out more about this project click here

Resources

Know Your Rights Cards.
To promote integrated sexual reproductive health rights and HIV/AIDS services in Lesotho
(Download PDF)

Research

SADC Experiences on SRHR and HIV Linkages.
PowerPoint Presentation | Year 2012
A presentation highlighting the experiences of sexual and reproductive health linkages in Lesotho.
(Download PDF)

Linking HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in Southern Africa 2011-2012: 2011 Annual Performance Report – Lesotho.  
This report provides a brief update of the progress made in Lesotho by the partners in the implementation of the EU funded linking HIV and SRH project in 2011.
Year 2012 | Authors: UNFPA, UNAIDS, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Goverment of the Kingdom of Lesotho, EU
(Download PDF)

Rapid assessment of sexual and reproductive health and HIV linkages: Lesotho.
This summary highlights the experiences, results and actions from the implementation of the Rapid Assessment Tool for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages in Lesotho.
Year 2012 | Authors IPPF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS
(Download PDF)

“Integrating HIV and SRHR services in Lesotho national health and development plans for effective scaling up of services” - A capacity building workshop.
This report outlines the process, impact and observations gained from the 3 day training workshop for UNFPA, district health facility staff, civil society partners and the Lesotho Ministry of Health. The workshop was held in Teyateyaneng, Lesotho.
Year 2013
(Download PDF)

For further information about the SRHR and HIV linkages project in Lesotho, please contact:
Dr Lillian Marutle
UNFPA Country Representative:
Email: marutle@unfpa.org
13 United Nations Road
P O Box 301
Maseru, Lesotho
Tel: (266) 22313429
Fax: (266) 22310895

Mr Sechaba Mokhameleli
Project Coordinater
Email: Mokhameleli@unfpa.org
Mobile: +266 58 861 206