Redefining the role of civil society
Senegal has traditionally been praised for its favourable HIV/AIDS response, but by 2003 HIV prevalence had risen dramatically in some areas, and there was a widespread sense that government provisions and programmes, including those involving communities, were taking place without a clear strategy.
Vulnerable populations – orphans, unregistered sex workers and men who have sex with men – were falling by the wayside without appropriate programming. Access to HIV testing and anti-retroviral treatment was severely limited, and people living with HIV felt increasingly stigmatised.
During these difficult times, Alliance organisation Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA (ANCS) and four other NGOs – Africa Consultants International, ENDA Santé, SIDA Service and Synergie pour l’Enfance – came together and decided they had a responsibility not only to scrutinise the government’s response to HIV/AIDS but also to play an active role in overcoming these problems. They formed a body called the Observatoire – an informal group operating under shared values – conducting research, working on a position paper, meeting with the executive secretary of Senegal’s National Council on AIDS, and consulting with key individuals and organisations.
These actions culminated in a historic press conference in 2005, at which the Observatoire released its position paper warning that Senegal would face a rise in HIV/AIDS infection rates if things did not change. The paper highlighted the lack of transparent mechanisms for using and managing finances from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) and the World Bank.
Most newspapers covered the conference as a front-page story the next day. The Global Fund’s grant to the government faced withdrawal and the Observatoire, in collaboration with other partners, took on an active role in negotiations to save it. The Global Fund split its grant into a government component and a civil society component, and a milestone in the funding history of Senegal, and West Africa, was reached when the civil society component was awarded to an NGO. ANCS was nominated and, after a selection process and audit, was chosen as principal recipient. ANCS will be responsible for disbursing $2.9 million to other community-based HIV/AIDS organisations over two and-a-half years.
The Observatoire’s actions demonstrate how civil society’s role in the HIV/AIDS response in Senegal is being redefined. Stakeholders feel that much progress has been made in civil society being meaningfully involved in key aspects of Senegal’s response to HIV/AIDS, and importantly the National AIDS Council has invited the Observatoire to work as a partner in problem solving. In July 2005, Senegal’s prime minister allocated a seat in the National AIDS Council to the Observatoire.
