Conference focuses on building civil society capacity in fight against HIV/AIDS
6 December 2007 – for immediate release
The role of civil society organisations and how best to fund them in their fight against HIV/AIDS come under the spotlight at the Civil Society, HIV/AIDS and Africa: capacity, sustainability, partnerships conference being held in Johannesburg, South Africa from December 5 to 7.
The meeting is co-hosted by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and the UK Government’s Department for International Development, and co-organised by UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
Representatives from civil society organisations, government and donors from across the globe are gathering to share and learn of others' experiences in building capacity to combat the pandemic.
“This is a propitious time for all parties to re-engage strategically in an effort to reduce the capacity constraints that threaten African progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” said Callisto Madavo, chair of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance's Board of Trustees, during the opening ceremony on Wednesday (December 5) evening.
“On current trends Africa will fall far short of meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, with the health Millienium Development Goals being the furthest off track and HIV/AIDS has a lot to do with this.”
Case studies to be presented at the conference point to differences in success and methodologies employed by the major donors such as PEPFAR (The US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief) and The Global Fund.
The examples point largely to a need for civil society and communities to have a far greater direct involvement in the implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes in order for them to have a meaningful impact.
A key determinant of success, however, is an effective mechanism to channel funding to support and grow the capacity of civil society organisations.
One example highlighted at the conference is that of the success in Côte d’Ivoire where an independent national organisation created by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance managed to substantially increase the capacity and activities of some of the more than 500 NGOs and associations involved in the response to HIV.
This was achieved on the back of the more than $170-million granted to Côte d’Ivoire by PEPFAR since 2004 and saw significant successes in terms of ARV treatment and care for orphans and vulnerable children.
The number of centres providing ARV treatment increased from 16 in 2004 to 58 in 2006 and will further increase to 123 by March 2008. More than 195,000 people were treated as part of the HIV prevention support programme, whereas 125,000 had been treated in 2004.
Much of the success is due to the direct funding from PEPFAR that enabled Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA en Côte d’Ivoire to effectively and quickly implement practical interventions.
“We aim to create debate and awareness about successful models, such as this where intermediary organisations are used to channel financial resources while ensuring that community-based organisations have the capacity to implement quality responses to HIV,” said Mr Madavo.
“It is imperative that we adapt policies and approaches, based on these successful models, to ensure that funding reaches these communities.”
MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Johann Barnard, 082 551 1414, johann@paprikacom.co.za
Sizo Majola, 0860 727 7452, sizo@paprikacom.co.za
Simon Moore, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 01273 718744, smoore@aidsalliance.org
About the International HIV/AIDS Alliance
The mission of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (the Alliance) is to support communities to reduce the spread of HIV and to meet the challenges of AIDS.
Established in 1993, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (the Alliance) is a global partnership of nationally-based organisations working to support community action on AIDS.
These national partners help local community groups and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to take action on AIDS, and are supported by technical expertise, policy work and fundraising carried out across the Alliance. In addition to community and country-based programmes, the Alliance also has extensive regional programmes and works on a range of international activities such as support for South–South cooperation, operations research, training and good practice development, as well policy analysis and advocacy.
The organisations in the International HIV/AIDS Alliance are extremely well placed to begin to address challenges to civil society organisations in making effective use of international funding, with their experience both in providing technical support to community organisations (particularly to marginalised groups), and their knowledge of international AIDS funding mechanisms.
ENDS
