Strengthening regional networks and institutions
Purpose
To contribute to enhancing the quality and scaling up of activities in HIV prevention, care and impact mitigation across national borders in sub-Saharan Africa.
Results
Strengthened institutional and technical capacity of organisations to manage and implement HIV responses that respond to the needs of people living with HIV and youth. Improved networking and alliance building across the region.
Geographic scope
The ARP works in partnership with regional networks and institutions to strengthen the regional response to HIV. Regional partners include the Network of African People living with HIV (NAP+), Pact, Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN), Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information and Dissemination Service (SafAIDS), Southern African AIDS Trust (SAT), Society for Women Against AIDS in Africa (SWAA) and Voluntary Service Oversees Regional AIDS Initiative in Southern Africa (VSO RAISA).
Background
The objective of this work is to strengthen partnerships with regional institutions and networks in order to maximise the impact of HIIV responses in the region. The partnership works in a variety of ways:
- An advisory group, comprising various regional entities, is convened annually to contribute to the development of the ARP programme.
- ARP provides technical and financial support to regional organisations to strengthen their capacity to implement.
- ARP, through the ARP manager, participates in partnership forums and consultation boards of regional organisations.
- Working relationships have been developed with regional partners to ensure complementarity and maximum impact of programme interventions.
The regional partnership
The ARP aims to improve the responses to HIV of partners across sub-Saharan Africa through the transfer of skills, experience and knowledge from partners doing similar work and through helping create a more favourable policy environment at national, regional and global levels.
Project strategies
Technical and financial support
In 2006, the ARP, working in partnership with UNAIDS, supported NAP+ in the process of developing a new strategic framework.
Advisory Group
The ARP Advisory Group comprises African Council of AIDS Service Organizations (AfriCASO), AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), Initiative Privée et Communautaire contre le VIH/SIDA (IPC), RATN, Regional Psycho-social Support Initiative for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (REPSSI), SafAIDS, SAT, SWAA, and UNAIDS, and is chaired by the Alliance Regional Representative for Africa. The advisory group meets annually to offer guidance on ARP implementation. The group also offers the opportunity to share information, discuss common issues and develop joint programmes or priorities across the region.
Partnership
The ARP, through the ARP Manager and the Regional Representative for Africa participates in partners’ forums of regional institutions and organisations. This collaboration is intended to aid joint prioritisation and programme planning where possible, in order to maximise the impact of programmes.
Annual Partners’ Meeting: The ARP Partners’ Meeting brings together all the Alliance partners working on the programme and provides an opportunity to review progress, share lessons, and develop partnerships and future programming collaborations.
Regional programming
The regional stigma training programme, the regional youth programme, and the policy initiative are all examples of how the ARP has developed regional programming approaches and models. The regional stigma training programme has recently established an e-forum, through which trainers form the different countries can discuss issues and document their work.
Sharing lessons and learning from others
The ARP supports partner organisations to develop more effective community responses. This is achieved through enabling partners to undertake learning visits to countries which are successfully implementing programmes or activities in areas in which the partner is planning to engage; through exchange visits between two partners working in similar fields; through technical support provided by one partner organisation to another; and through the development, publication and dissemination of tools and manuals.
