Senegal meeting allows civil society organisations to share their experiences
27 May 2008
A meeting organised in March 2008 by Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA (ANCS), the Alliance’s linking organisation in Senegal, highlighted the ability of civil society organisations to make a mark on the national HIV response. The two-day meeting – the first of its kind in Senegal – was organised as part of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria programme, and brought together more than one hundred people from Dakar and the regions who are working with ANCS partners and Global Fund sub-recipients. ANCS is a co-Principal Recipient responsible for the civil society component of the Global Fund grant in Senegal.
The meeting allowed the sub-recipient organisations to exchange information and share their experiences, providing a platform for discussion on the effective implementation of HIV prevention programmes. The organisations presented the results of their activities, which were judged satisfactory both in terms of their implementation and the extent to which they had achieved their targets.
At the opening session, the vice-president of the national assembly, Mr Abdou Latif Guèye, praised the civil society initiative, and took the opportunity to urge a rapid parliamentary vote on the law protecting people living with HIV, whose rights are often flouted.
Dr Ibra Ndoye, executive secretary of Senegal’s national HIV council highlighted that civil society has contributed significantly to the country’s response, with the results of the last 20 years due to the combined efforts of civil society and the public sector.
In addition to the sub-recipients’ presentations, two panel discussions were organised on ‘Advocating against AIDS stigma and discrimination’ and ‘Vulnerable groups in the context of a concentrated epidemic’. Panelists included Mrs Hélène Badini from UNAIDS, Mr Mamadou Hamat Niasse from CRED (Development Economics Research Centre), Mr Ismaila GOUDIABY from RNP+, Dr Abdoulaye Sidibé Wade from the DLSI (AIDS Division), Mrs Khady Konaré, psychologist, islamologist Mr Abdoul Aziz Kébé and Mr Daouda Diouf from Enda Santé. They each considered the problems from the angle of their particular expertise, and the discussions provoked a lively reaction from partipants, who were keen to gain a better understanding of the issues from a public health approach.
Each of the sub-recipients is responsible for different strategic components of the programme in Senegal:
- APAPS is in charge of information and education for groups vulnerable to HIV
- Sida Service is responsible for the decentralisation of voluntary anonymous counselling and testing programmes in the Thiès, Kolda and Matam regions
- ENDA Santé provides advocacy and care for vulnerable groups such as men who have sex with men and sex workers in Dakar, Thiès, Kolda and Diourbel regions
- SWAA and ASBEF are responsible for the decentralisation of the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission programmes in the Dakar, Thiès, Kolda, Diourbel and Matam regions
- HACI provides community care for people living with HIV and vulnerable children and orphans in the 11 regions of Senegal.
