Mainstreaming – examining the reality
03 November 2006
Mainstreaming HIV into broader development work has an uncertain future unless funding and operational support is increased. This was the message from 23 interviews with representatives of NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies, and national authorities in Burkina Faso, as part of research carried out on behalf of the Alliance in July this year.
The research showed that national and international advocacy work on mainstreaming HIV seems to be having a limited impact. Some mainstreaming is happening at a programmatic level, but a stand-alone response broadly prevails, due in part to the unwillingness of certain donors to structurally support mainstreaming efforts.
Where mainstreaming work is happening, it is often in a reactive way and for diverse reasons – such as the epidemic having a negative impact on core activities, or in response to a request from the organisation’s target group. And organisations carrying out these activities don’t often see the need, or are unable, to precisely define their understanding of mainstreaming. Learning processes around mainstreaming are needed, as activities are rarely documented or written into strategy papers. However, producing a more robust understanding requires donors at national and international levels to broaden funding streams to encompass mainstreaming activity.
There are organisations, such as the UNDP, that the Alliance has recognised for their recent efforts to generate a more enabling environment for mainstreaming, by campaigning for the recognition of the link between human development and the AIDS response. However, the report highlights the need for greater levels of encouragement for mainstreaming, such as with specific funding, incentives and technical support.
Tomas Lievens, an Oxford Policy Management consultant on health and social policy, carried out the research with the aim of establishing the extent to which national policy and funding streams are affecting efforts to mainstream HIV into broader development programmes. The resultant study will form a part of a wider Alliance project which aims to provide an accurate and comprehensive definition of mainstreaming and to outline potential guidelines on implementing mainstreaming strategies and on the policy environment needed for their success.
The study will be used to inform a formal policy document on national and international mainstreaming efforts that will hopefully be produced by the end of 2006. It will also inform discussion on policy proposals at a conference planned for early 2007, to be organised by the Alliance.
