IFAD strategy paper on HIV/AIDS for East and Southern Africa

Section V - Building Strategic Partnerships

149. Most development organizations (UN organizations, bilateral donors, NGOs/CBOs) recognize that HIV/AIDS is a multisectoral issue, and this is reflected in their development policies and strategies. However, the operationalization of multisectoral responses has been slow. While many organizations, and particularly NGOs, have developed capacity in HIV prevention and in the care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS, AIDS mitigation activities in agriculture and rural development programmes are relatively scarce.

150. Yet, given the magnitude of the HIV epidemic, no single actor can effectively address its cross-sectoral effects. Strategic partnerships are required with bilateral agencies, other UN organizations, NGOs and the private sector. IFAD usually collaborates with bilateral agencies on the basis of cofinancing partnerships where the donor agency finances project-specific activities and/or project components. In some cases, a donor may also finance and/or provide technical assistance. Key donors involved in IFAD projects at this level include the Belgian Survival Fund, GTZ and Ireland Aid. Partnerships with NGOs are an integral part of IFAD field operations, with. NGOs participating on a contractual basis as service providers to the borrowing governments. In most IFAD-supported projects, NGOs provide services principally in the area of community mobilization and development.

Types of partnerships that can be established with other organizations for HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation include:

  • cofinancing partnerships primarily with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and UN agencies, and, to a limited extent, NGOs;
  • advocacy partnerships primarily with NGOs and UN agencies;
  • operational partnerships mainly with NGOs for the provision of services in: (i) institutional development and capacity-building for stakeholders in IFAD-financed projects (i.e. implementing partners such as ministry staff, CBOs and NGOs); and (ii) implementation of HIV prevention and AIDS mitigation activities;
  • research and knowledge dissemination partnerships (research, data and information dissemination) with UN agencies (e.g. FAO, UNAIDS), technical organizations, universities and research institutions.

Rwanda - The trees grown in this nursery 6 km east of Kigombe, in Ruhondo, will be planted on terraced hillsides to help prevent erosion. As part of a WFP-sponsored Food For Work program, IFAD is contributing training, seeds and other material. IFAD Photo by Robert Grossman 152. The remainder of this section examines the potential of such partnerships with four categories of organizations: NGOs; national bodies and networks; other United Nations agencies; and bilateral donors. Possible partnerships are discussed below but should only be considered as examples and are not exhaustive.

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A. Partnerships with NGOs

153. Partnerships with NGOs will be an integral part of the implementation of HIV prevention and AIDS mitigation activities for IFAD-financed projects. From a strategic point of view, and in relation to IFAD-financed projects, the strength of NGOs is in participatory programme development and implementation at community level. Therefore, NGOs can play a leading role in:

  • participatory needs assessments for socio-economic and production system studies, to identify with the communities the constraints posed by vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and its impact on livelihoods, and to define mitigation options;
  • the implementation of HIV/AIDS-related initiatives. Depending on the project, NGO involvement would focus on community mobilization to ensure the inclusion of households affected by young adult mortality in project activities. They could also help identify community coping strategies and mitigation activities that could be supported, scaled up and/or replicated;
  • the implementation of AIDS-specific community components, including pilot and expansion/replication activities of existing programmes, focused on enabling communities to mitigate livelihood shocks, including HIV/AIDS (e.g. a replication of the UWESO Development Project or of the Africare Zambia initiative, Box 17);
  • advocacy for issues such as access to productive resources (particularly land) for the poor and inheritance rights for women and children. Through IFAD-funded community development and mobilization components, various actors can be called upon to interact with the communities on these issues. An example is land tenure access, which is one of the priority action areas for IFAD in East and Southern Africa. Rural women are disadvantaged in terms of land ownership. HIV/AIDS has exacerbated their situation in both patrilineal and matrilineal communities. Legal literacy on property rights could thus become an integral part of functional adult literacy or other project activities.91 NGOs such as the International Federation of Women’s Lawyers and the Legal Aid Project are potential partners in this area; and
  • health care activities: To cover health, including community needs for care and support, NGO collaboration in the water, health and nutrition components of IFAD-supported projects may be appropriate. Partnerships could be formed with NGOs specialized in areas such as training of community health workers in AIDS care, support and counselling, nutritional monitoring and raising community awareness of the need for improved hygiene and nutritional practices. In these partnerships, it will be important to ensure that NGO partners also understand the implications of HIV/AIDS for development.
 

Box 17: Africare's Integrated Approach to Community Empowerment in Strengthening Community Coping Strategies to AIDS Impact in Zambia

In response to increasing household food insecurity (largely due to AIDS), Africare, a private American NGO, has launched the Small-Scale Agricultural Mechanization Promotions Project (SAMEP) in Zambia. The project promotes the following:

  • Short-maturing seeds, e.g. katumani maize, sunflower, sorghum and sesame;
  • nutritious leguminous crops, e.g. cowpeas and mung beans;
  • conservation farming;
  • seed multiplication initiatives as income-generating projects (surplus seed is sold to other organizations e.g. World Vision and Oxfam);
  • labour-saving technologies, e.g. oil presses, groundnut lifters;
  • livestock credit in-kind activities;
  • HIV/AIDS IEC initiatives using drama and radio;
  • income-generating projects for rural youth, e.g. vegetable production, dairy farming and bakeries, together with training in requisite business skills;
  • youth information centres, where information on various issues is provided, including reproductive health and STIs.

Possible IFAD-Africare partnership areas could include: (a) IFAD financial support for scaling up current initiatives; (b) replicating and adapting successful initiatives in IFAD-financed projects; and (c) documenting best practices.

Source: Information leaflet produced by Africare, Zambia, 2000.

 

154. Financing could include: (a) direct IFAD financing for initiatives to be implemented by NGOs, e.g. UWESO-type activities and NGO activities identified for scaling up; and (b) financing through the government for activities that are integrated as part of IFAD-financed projects (either loan- or grant-based).

155. Partnerships with NGOs (and other organizations) have to be governed by memoranda of understanding, defining the mandate and commitment of each party. Procedural requirements need to be flexible to allow projects the possibility of establishing collaborative partnerships with other actors as the need arises. This flexibility needs to be integrated into project appraisal documents.

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B. Partnerships with National Bodies and Networks

National AIDS Commissions

156. The mandate of national AIDS commissions (NACs) is to coordinate national HIV/AIDS programmes, establish partnerships with stakeholders and support multisectoral approaches for HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation. NACs are also mandated to develop, in participatory partnerships with other stakeholders, country strategic frameworks for HIV/AIDS interventions. In practice, however, few multisectoral mitigation activities are implemented, even though the effects of the epidemic on each sector are well defined.

157. As a first step towards establishing partnerships with NACs, IFAD should present its HIV/AIDS strategy to create ownership and foster a process of information-sharing and coordination. Further, NACs can be instrumental in integrating AIDS mitigation for the rural poor into National strategic frameworks for HIV/AIDS activities and poverty reduction strategy papers, thereby ensuring that these initiatives are part of the overall country policy and planning process. NACs can also facilitate the dissemination of information on IFAD-supported initiatives and share with IFAD-financed projects best practices from the field. To this effect, IFAD-supported projects should provide NACs with project implementation summaries reviewing components that address HIV/AIDS.

Networks of People Living with HIV/AIDS

158. Networks of people living with HIV/AIDS can play a key role in advocacy and IEC activities, especially HIV prevention, the strengthening of coping mechanisms for directly affected households, and the dissemination of best practices on health and nutrition. One such example is the publication "Food for People Living with HIV/AIDS", researched and produced by the Network of African People Living with HIV/AIDS. Adapted for Zambian conditions and reprinted, this publication is a nutritional guide that can be disseminated through community structures, e.g. community health workers and NGOs.

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C. Partnerships with United Nations Agencies

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

159. As a technical assistance agency whose mandate is to increase food production and security while conserving and managing natural resources, FAO is a key partner for IFAD. IFAD is already working with FAO through farmer field schools various countries in East and Southern Africa. Potential areas of cooperation on HIV/AIDS include:

(a) strategies to adapt agricultural extension and investment services to the changing needs of target groups in view of the impact of HIV/AIDS;

(b) capturing, analysing and disseminating information on knowledge systems adversely affected by HIV/AIDS (in particular, the loss of intergenerational knowledge of agricultural skills and practices; farm management and marketing skills, gender-specific skills and institutional knowledge);

(c) scaling up of HIV/AIDS-related activities in projects using farmer field schools; and

(d) at country level, FAO could be called upon to represent IFAD in policy discussions in the areas of HIV/AIDS and development, to ensure that these are integrated into poverty reduction strategy papers.

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

160. UNAIDS92 was formed in 1996 to mobilize a broad-based response to the global health and development challenges posed by HIV/AIDS. It is also the overall UN coordinating body for HIV/AIDS-related initiatives. The goal of UNAIDS is to catalyse, strengthen and orchestrate the unique expertise, resources and networks of influence that each of its co-sponsors offers. Working together through UNAIDS, the co-sponsors expand their outreach through strategic alliances with other UN agencies, national governments, CBOs, corporations, the media, religious organizations, regional and country networks of people living with HIV/AIDS, and other NGOs.93 IFAD and the UNAIDS Secretariat have already established a cooperation framework, the text of which is attached as Annex 1.

161. Areas of possible partnerships with UNAIDS include:

(a) the further development and testing of the HIV/AIDS vulnerability and mitigation matrix proposed in this strategy paper, and in particular, the designation of thresholds for the proposed indicators of AIDS impact levels and low/high HIV/AIDS prevalence;

(b) the development of sector-specific mitigation strategies and monitoring of the impact of interventions;

(c) the development of comprehensive HIV/AIDS workplace programmes; and

(d) the exchange, documentation and dissemination of best practices in the form of workshops, in-service training and publications. The UWESO project could be one such example of a best practice case study that can be documented and developed further in terms of its replication potential.

United Nations Population Fund

162. About a quarter of all population assistance from donor nations to developing countries is channelled through the United Nations Population Fund. UNFPA has three main programme areas: reproductive health (including family planning and sexual health), population and development, strategy and advocacy. UNFPA’s comparative advantage as a co-sponsor of UNAIDS is in reproductive health, gender equality, women’s empowerment and socio-cultural concerns. Like IFAD, UNFPA is primarily a funding agency and does not implement programmes, unless the recipient government has difficulties in carrying out implementation. In addition, country programme plans cover a five-year period and programme financing is released annually.

163. Possible areas of collaboration with IFAD include IEC on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health issues and the provision of condoms. IFAD-supported projects with health and nutrition components and community health worker training could greatly benefit from UNFPA’s expertise in reproductive health. Community awareness-raising on gender and HIV/AIDS issues using peer educators is another potential partnership area.

United Nations Office for Project Services

164. The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an independent arm of the United Nations that provides project management services in every area where the UN has a mandate. It also offers services to bilateral donors, international financial institutions, developing country governments and others. At their request, UNOPS manages development projects or provides specialized services, as needed. These services include selecting and hiring project personnel, procuring goods, organizing training, managing financial resources and administering loans.94

165. FAD already works in partnership with UNOPS, which is contracted to supervise IFAD-financed projects. This entails the provision of technical guidance, undertaking technical reviews and clearing project AWP/Bs. In view of the above, IFAD needs to establish with UNOPS the adverse impacts of HIV/AIDS on both the target groups of IFAD-supported projects and project staff and operations, and define mechanisms to ensure that HIV/AIDS concerns are integrated into the tasks and terms of reference of supervision missions.

United Nations Volunteers Programme

166. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was created in 1970 to serve as an operational partner in development cooperation at the request of UN member states. It reports to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and works through UNDP country offices around the world. Volunteers work in programmes of technical cooperation; community-based initiatives for self-reliance; humanitarian relief; rehabilitation in agriculture; health; education; information and communication technology; community development; and vocational training.95

167. Under the UNV/UNAIDS Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS programme (GIPA), people affected by HIV/AIDS are recruited as UNVs to work in various projects. They bring their technical expertise with the added advantage of a personal perspective and commitment. Pilot projects have been implemented in Malawi and Zambia. Partnerships with UNV/UNAIDS may be suitable for the provision of assistance to HIV/AIDS focal points in IFAD-supported projects.

World Food Programme

168. WFP, the food aid agency of the United Nations, aims at saving the lives of people caught up in humanitarian crises through food-for-life; supporting the most vulnerable people at the most critical times of their lives through food-for-growth; and helping the poor to become self-reliant and build assets through food-for-work.

169. Possible areas of collaboration between WFP and IFAD include:

(a) partnerships in rural infrastructure development where food-for-work could be provided to facilitate community participation, especially in regions experiencing labour shortages and/or where communities may be too food-insecure to participate in project activities;

(b) in post-conflict countries where IFAD finances reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes, WFP food-for-work programmes could be used to attract labour and also to help households rebuild their asset base; and

(c) where vocational training programmes for orphans are supported by IFAD (e.g. such as the UWESO project), WFP could provide a food-for-training nutritional component. This could enable more orphans to be targeted for skills transfer and training, which would prevent them from selling their unskilled labour for food and/or assets.

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D. Partnerships with Bilateral Donors

DANIDA

170. Poverty reduction is the primary objective of the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Within this objective, the main cross-cutting themes are gender, the environment and good governance. In addition to these, HIV/AIDS is now a priority area. Denmark intends to support HIV/AIDS initiatives based on four principles: (a) political mobilization through the promotion of commitment of national leaders and opinion makers; (b) HIV prevention by empowering, through access to various services, women and men to protect themselves against HIV infection; (c) care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS, and their families; and (d) reducing the long-term effects of HIV/AIDS through the development of sector-specific strategies and capacity.96

171. Denmark is an important potential IFAD partner in the area of HIV/AIDS. Possible areas of collaboration under thematic funding include support for:

(a) initiatives aimed at mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS on the livelihoods of the rural poor;

(b) the development of methodological tools and modules for guiding work aimed at the integration of mitigation initiatives into rural and agricultural investment projects; and

(c) workplace HIV/AIDS programmes.

Department for International Development

172. In response to the HIV epidemic, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) is focusing on six main areas of response: (a) building political leadership; (b) building national institutional capacity; (c) tackling the underlying causes of vulnerability, which includes addressing stigma, gender inequalities and poverty; (d) maximizing the contribution of all sectors; (e) supporting a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and care programme; and (f) supporting the development of knowledge generation.97

173. Potential areas of collaboration between DFID and IFAD include:

(a) action-research on the impact of HIV/AIDS on rural livelihoods, including on access to assets such as land, and technology;

(b) the development of a livelihoods perspective of HIV prevention and AIDS mitigation responses; and

(c) exchange, documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices.

German Technical Cooperation

174. GTZ has prioritized the mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS into their activities by allowing projects to use up to 3% of their budgets for HIV/AIDS-related activities. A technical advisory service for GTZ structures (offices, projects and staff) has also been set up, which focuses on HIV/AIDS. Key focus areas for GTZ are decentralization, privatization and commercialization; HIV/AIDS and rural livelihoods; support for the Debt Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and poverty reduction strategies (PRSP) processes; and land issues. As GTZ’s priority areas are similar to IFAD’s, there is considerable scope for complementarity. In the field of HIV/AIDS, GTZ focuses on supporting HIV prevention and coping mechanisms; promoting the incorporation of HIV/AIDS into participatory rural extension services; and promoting community approaches for the alleviation of the impact of AIDS on socio-economic livelihood support systems.

175. Potential areas of collaboration between GTZ and IFAD include:

(a) research on HIV/AIDS and rural livelihoods, with a focus on coping strategies;

(b) the development of methodological tools for the integration of mitigation initiatives into agricultural investment projects;

(c) the development of a monitoring system to measure the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural and rural development projects; and

(d) cofinancing of HIV/AIDS-related development initiatives.

Ireland Aid

176. The main priority areas of Ireland’s HIV/AIDS strategy include: (a) improving awareness, responsiveness and effectiveness of its aid to HIV/AIDS as a development issue; (b) protecting existing social and economic development gains from the adverse effects of HIV/AIDS; (c) promoting further development in these areas; and (d) supporting sectoral policies, programmes and activities that impact on the pandemic at national, community and individual levels.98

177. Potential areas of collaboration between Ireland Aid and IFAD exist and should be explored further. These could include cofinancing of HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation initiatives, and the exchange, documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices.

Japan

178. Japan’s mid-term policy on official development recognizes HIV/AIDS as a serious obstacle to development in developing countries. Specific areas of action include supporting: (a) the sharing of knowledge among developing countries through South-South cooperation; (b) HIV prevention measures, including the distribution of contraceptives, safe syringes, and assistance related to the delivery of drugs; (c) IEC programmes for young people on HIV/AIDS, linked with reproductive health; and (d) care and counselling for AIDS orphans. These are areas that Japan and IFAD can further explore in order to establish areas of collaboration.

NORAD

179. In 1996, the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD) established policies to integrate HIV/AIDS into its overall development assistance (planning, implementation and evaluation of all activities, including agriculture and infrastructure) within a multisectoral framework.99 NORAD is currently an important financing partner of IFAD’s women and gender equality programmes. Areas of potential partnership between NORAD and IFAD include:

(a) the identification and scaling up of social safety net programmes, such as the provision of life skills to orphans and foster families of orphans. An example of this could be the replication/scaling up of programmes such as the UWESO Development Programme;

(b) developing and supporting HIV/AIDS workplace programmes; and

(c) cofinancing of HIV/AIDS-related prevention and mitigation initiatives.

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91/ UWESO, for instance, raises awareness on land tenure issues.

92/ The original co-sponsors of UNAIDS were the United Nations Children's Fund; the United Nations Development Programme; the United Nations Population Fund; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; the World Health Organization; and the World Bank. The United Nations International Drug Control Programme joined UNAIDS in April 1999.

93/ UNAIDS website

94/ United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) website

95/ United Nations Volunteers (UNV). website

96/ Denmark's International Programme of Action against HIV/AIDS, May 2001.

97/ DFID, 2000.

98/ www.irlgov.ie.

99/ Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2000.

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