Ms. Nikki Schaay

Ms Nikki Schaay is a Senior Researcher at the School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape. Nikki contributes to SOPH’s teaching activities by convening one of core modules of the MPH programme: ‘Population Health and Development: A Comprehensive Primary Health Care Approach’ and facilitating a course on community participation.

Prior to joining the School in 2004, Nikki worked in the field of HIV - first managing a local non-governmental organization which was one of the first community based organisations in South Africa to support a cadre of grassroots HIV educators; then coordinating a provincial HIV advocacy network, and later directing a national project which provided technical assistance to the National Department of Health, specifically in relation to HIV multi-sectoral capacity building and policy development.

Over the past ten years Nikki has also done short-term consultancy work in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). These have ranged from end of project evaluations of community-based HIV prevention and care projects in Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, India, Nepal and Vietnam for the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) to the facilitation, pilot-testing and development of an index to measure HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination, developed in collaboration with UNAIDS, the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and the International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) and the development of a series of case studies related to PMTCT for the Interagency Working Group on SRH & HIV Linkages.