The SCOPE Project at Noaks Ark Mosaik: Community Trust as a Cornerstone of HIV Combination Prevention
At Noaks Ark Mosaik, our experience demonstrates that effective HIV combination prevention begins with trust. While information, testing services, and prevention tools are essential, they are only effective when communities feel safe, respected, and understood.
Our experience through SCOPE (Strategic Community HIV Prevention Empowerment) reinforces an important lesson for HIV combination prevention across Europe: communities are not merely beneficiaries of interventions. They are experts in their own realities and essential partners in designing solutions. Sustainable prevention outcomes are achieved when programmes are built with communities rather than for communities.
Our work primarily engages migrants, mobile populations, people living with HIV, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other communities that may face barriers to accessing mainstream health services. Many members of these communities have experienced stigma, discrimination, language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, or mistrust of institutions. As a result, conventional service delivery models do not always reach those who could benefit most from prevention services.
What distinguishes our approach is that it is community-led, culturally responsive, and relationship-based. We work through peer educators, community ambassadors, trusted leaders, faith actors, and grassroots networks. We meet people where they are, both physically and socially, rather than expecting them to navigate complex systems on their own.
Our evidence of practice shows that key populations engage with our services because they see themselves reflected in our work. Information is provided in relevant languages, discussions are adapted to cultural realities, and services are delivered in environments where people feel respected and free from judgment. This creates conditions in which conversations about HIV prevention, sexual health, mental well-being, and healthcare access can take place openly and constructively.
Through community outreach, integrated testing initiatives, health education, and peer engagement, we have consistently observed that trust increases uptake of services, strengthens health literacy, and improves linkage to care. Importantly, community members frequently return, refer friends and family, and participate as partners in programme design and implementation. This level of engagement reflects not only service utilization but also community ownership.
The success of Noaks Ark Mosaik’s approach is therefore not measured solely by the number of people reached, but by the quality of relationships built, the trust earned, and the extent to which communities feel empowered to take ownership of their health and well-being.
Link access here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8m3w4kX7J0
“People do not access HIV prevention services because services exist; they access them because trust exists. At Noaks Ark Mosaik, trust is our most important prevention tool.”
