Leadership in action: a case study of the Observatoire in Senegal
31 January 2007
At the start of 2005, a group of five NGOs in Senegal came together to scrutinise the problems that Senegal was facing in its HIV response, and to provide constructive solutions to overcome these problems and play an active role in implementing the necessary changes. The NGOs formed an informal network, the Observatoire de la reponse au VIH/sida au Sénégal (Watchdog of the response to HIV/AIDS in Senegal), which has made a significant contribution to Senegal’s response to HIV/AIDS over the last two years.
Together with Thailand and Uganda, Senegal has received wide attention and praise as one of the countries in the developing world that has been most successful in responding to HIV and AIDS. Indeed, there have been several positive steps in the response to HIV in Senegal, including early political engagement, a strong civil society response, and one of the earliest national initiatives for access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. Significant new funds from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (Global Fund) and the World Bank’s Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Programme for Africa (MAP) added to an already existing strong national programmatic and financial commitment.
Nevertheless, in the recent past, Senegal experienced significant problems as it scaled up its response to HIV. There was a widespread sense that:
- the scale up was taking place without a clear strategy and vision
- vulnerable populations and particularly orphans and vulnerable children were not being targeted with interventions
- respect for the rights and dignity of people living with HIV continued to be missing
- access to HIV testing and to ARV treatment remained too limited.
In addition, civil society felt that it had been pushed to one side and that it had no real impact on government decision-making.
In April 2005, the Board of the Global Fund gave Senegal three months to address these issues or face the withdrawal of its HIV grant. Similarly, the World Bank, after an evaluation, also asked Senegal to make changes to how programmes were implemented and monies disbursed.
During these difficult times a group of five NGOs came together and decided that they had a responsibility not only to denounce the problems that Senegal was facing in its response to HIV, but also provide constructive solutions to overcoming these problems and play an active role in implementing the necessary changes. The NGOs formed an informal network, the Observatoire de la réponse au VIH/SIDA au Sénégal (Watchdog of the response to HIV/AIDS in Senegal), which has made a significant contribution to Senegal’s response to HIV over the last two years, playing a central role in efforts to improve the response.
Some of the successes the Observatoire and its members have achieved include:
- Today, civil society is more meaningfully involved in all key aspects of Senegal’s response to HIV.
- Many of the problems in Senegal’s response to HIV noted by the Observatoire are being addressed. In particular, the needs of vulnerable populations are increasingly being met, orphans and vulnerable children are receiving more attention, the quality and accessibility of services for people living with HIV is improving, and there is better access to HIV testing and treatments.
- One of the five NGOs (ANCS) has become Principal Recipient of the Global Fund, taking responsibility for disbursing international resources to other NGOs.
Some of the challenges the Observatoire currently faces include:
- expanding its membership, in particular to include people living with HIV and representatives of vulnerable communities;
- formalising its structure without losing its flexibility and reducing the quality of its interventions;
- ensuring its longer-term sustainability;
- improving communications so that all those involved in the response to HIV in Senegal and the general public are regularly kept informed of what the Observatoire does.
Some of the main lessons learned include:
- Strong civil society engagement with government can improve the response to HIV.
- Civil society organisations can more effectively influence government policy if they build coalitions and work together.
- Civil society should be as critical of its own actions as it is of government action.
- NGOs can help overcome barriers to disbursing international HIV funding to civil society by acting as intermediaries.
Leadership in action: A case study of the “Observatoire”, a group of NGOs in Senegal
In collaboration with ANCS, ENDA/Tiers Monde VIH/SIDA, Africa Consultants International, SIDA Service and Synergie pour l’enfance.
