Developing a code of good practice for NGO's responding to HIV/AIDS
The Alliance was part of a 12-member steering committee that developed ‘Renewing Our Voice’, a code of good practice for NGOs involved in HIV/AIDS. The committee also included the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+), World Council of Churches and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The code is aimed at the growing number of ‘supporting NGOs’ that provide technical, financial, advocacy and organisational support to NGOs working on HIV/AIDS in developing countries. It aims to build wider commitment to key principles and practices that are central to successful action on HIV/AIDS.
These include involving people living with HIV/AIDS, taking a human rights approach and addressing people’s vulnerability. The code will also help NGOs to improve the quality and accountability of their efforts, work more collaboratively, and renew their joint voice by committing to shared standards.
After a draft of the code was released in March 2004, the Alliance played an active role in gathering feedback. This included holding a briefing session for 40 representatives of its secretariat, linking organisations and country offices and supporting its country office in the Ukraine to facilitate a consultation for Russianspeaking countries. It also included Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) and Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA (ANCS), the linking organisations in Cambodia and Senegal, participating in a symposium on the code at the XVth International AIDS Conference in Bangkok.
The finalised code was launched on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2004, with 160 NGOs ‘signed up’, including the Alliance secretariat and 18 of its linking organisations and country offices.
