Building partnerships for universal access: increasing civil society’s capacity and sustainability
(Satellite SUSAT32)
XVII International AIDS Conference, Mexico City
Sunday 3 August 2008
13.30–15.30
Skills building room 3
To explore the expanding role of civil society in scaling up national responses to reach universal access to HIV services. Critically assess the financial and technical support available to support capacity building for a sustained community based response.
Despite increasing resources for HIV/AIDS, progress towards universal access to HIV services are undermined by insufficient resources and by the failure to get resources to hardest hit communities. Civil society has increasingly proven its capacity to manage the funds from large funding mechanisms such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (the Global Fund), the World Bank’s Africa Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP) and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Civil society organisations (CSO’s) and community based organisations (CBO’s) continue to play a vital role in delivering services to communities and those hardest to reach, both geographically and socially.
However, recent studies have highlighted persisting bottlenecks in disbursing international AIDS funding to civil society organisations (CSOs) and the difficulties CSO and CBO have in accessing available technical support that would enable them to rapidly scale up effective responses at the community level.
There is therefore an urgent need to strengthen mechanisms for disbursement to civil society, for capacity building and to integrate support for these efforts into funding approaches and mechanisms.
Building on outcomes of the “Civil Society, HIV/AIDS and Africa: Capacity, Sustainability, Partnerships. Building African NGO Capacity to implement large scale HIV/AIDS Programmes” meeting, co-hosted in Johannesburg-South Africa by the Alliance, the UK Department for International Development, UNAIDS and the Global Fund, this session aims to critically assess various approaches to strengthening the role of civil society in national responses to HIV including implementation, policy & planning and increasing mutual accountability and transparency.
This event will mark the launch of a joint publication by the Global Fund and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance that brings together a collection of case studies that showcase examples of CSO implementing Community Systems Strengthening, and Dual Track Financing.
Session contents
Opening & Introductions
Panel-1: Building Capacity for Community Based Responses
Examining the models and initiatives of national and international organisations and institutions in supporting the capacity building of civil society organisations engaged in community based interventions:
- UNAIDS – Technical support Facilities
- The International HIV/AIDS Alliance – Technical Support Hubs, Philippines
- Brazilian National HIV Programme – Regional Technical Support Initiative
- CSAT – International technical support coordination
Discussion, Questions & Answers
Panel-2: Investing in the capacity of communities
Examining approaches of key donors in supporting capacity building initiatives and programmes:
- The Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria
- The International HIV/AIDS Alliance – Country perspective Zambia
- World Bank – investment in civil society responses to HIV
- Center for Global Development: Comparing disbursement mechanisms (GFATM, PEPFAR & WB/MAP)
