Improving the policy environment in the region
Purpose
Improved policy environment conducive to the implementation of effective community responses to HIV.
Project description
The Africa Regional Programme (ARP) supports Alliance partners to engage in national and regional policy and advocacy work towards the attainment of universal access to comprehensive treatment and prevention programmes. The ARP Policy Project focuses on two priorities areas:
- barriers to accessing HIV services, particularly the reduction of stigma and discrimination
- access to comprehensive prevention services.
Partners for policy
The principal partners engaged in this policy and advocacy work are Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA (ANCS) in Senegal, Initiative Privée et Communautaire contre le VIH/SIDA (IPC) in Burkina Faso, and Alliance Zambia.
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has an Africa Regional Representative who advocates in sub-Saharan Africa, linking the work of national partners to regional institutions (government, multi-lateral and non-government).The International HIV/AIDS Alliance UK supports the policy work of ARP partners which in turn contributes to the global policy work of the Alliance.
Achievements
The ARP has completed the following reports and studies: a Regional Policy Review (2005) to evaluate key policy processes and stakeholders for achieving policy change at the regional level; situational analyses on the barriers to treatment in Senegal and Burkina Faso; and situational analyses on stigma and discrimination in Senegal and Burkina Faso. The data from the four situational analyses will contribute to a regional policy report on universal access to comprehensive treatment and prevention programmes.
National level policy work: ANCS, IPC and Alliance Zambia have worked in partnership with other civil society organisations and governments to strengthen HIV/AIDS policies in their own countries. National level meetings were convened with the networks of organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, AFRICASO, L’Observatoire, and other civil society organisations. Thanks to these collective efforts, the national polices of Senegal and Burkina Faso have been changed to prioritise support for the reduction of stigma and discrimination, which was collectively recognised as a major barrier to accessing services.
Regional and global policy work: At the regional and global level, ANCS and IPC participated in national delegations to influence the messages for Abuja+5. The Executive Director of ANCS joined a civil society delegation to represent the ARP work at the UNGASS+5 meeting in New York. The ARP policy work has been used to inform the Alliance’s advocacy work in Brussels in preparation for the renewal of EU national grants. This has enabled the establishment of links between European Union policy making processes, national decision making and civil society organisations Burkina Faso, Zambia and Senegal.
Ongoing activities
In 2007, the focus of the work will be on finalisation of the regional report, based on learning from Zambia, Senegal and Burkina Faso which is to be used as an advocacy tool. National level work will focus on provision of technical support to civil society partners and government and ongoing policy and advocacy activities.
The regional report will be used as an advocacy tool to influence the development and implementation of policy that addresses stigma and discrimination with regional institutions, and to reinforce the work begun with national governments. Regional technical support will be provided to ARP partners engaging in policy work through a regional consultant, the Regional Representative for Africa and from amongst the partners themselves.
The ARP policy work will be represented at ICASA 2007 through national delegations (informed by the work of ANCS, IPC and ZCO) and an ARP delegation comprising partners from Senegal, Burkina Faso and the Regional Representative. The ARP delegation will work with other partners to develop and deliver coordinated advocacy messages around the theme of universal access based on the findings of the ARP policy and advocacy work.
