HIV/AIDS: 46 responses to a global challenge

Africa Regional HIV/AIDS, Health & Development Facilitation Team

Von Stefan Germann / Heilsarmee

Background: The Salvation Army Africa Regional HIV/AIDS, Health & Development Programme has been providing regionally based programme facilitation in the areas of HIV/AIDS, health and development in 12 countries in Africa since February 1995. Over the past 2 years there has been a considerable increase of Salvation Army programs and other organizations requesting facilitation support to enhance human capacity for communities to care, change, hope, measure and transfer knowledge and experience. A key area has been the mainstreaming or integration of HIV/AIDS in development programs.

Goal: “To enhance the human and social capacity of local communities across Africa through local learning and facilitation processes; for communities to change, care and hope by demonstrating increased HIV/AIDS competency that reduces stigma, HIV infection and ensures quality of life for individuals (especially children and youth), families and community members affected by AIDS.”

Intermediary Results:

• To increase through local learning and facilitation processes local responses for communities to care, change, hope, transfer and demonstrate increased HIV/AIDS competency.
• Further develop and expand the pool of experienced facilitators in the region, to ensure consistency in the facilitation process and high quality of leadership in facilitation teams.
• Enhance existing and develop new partnerships with other organizations for mutual catalytic learning and transferring lessons learnt through local learning across Africa.

Over the past 7 years of regional work, the progress to date has included:

• Development of 200 new focal points for implementation of community facilitated care and change processes.
• Capacity development of 300 community facilitators with skills in community counselling, documentation, home-based care, income generating, process analysis, action research and community to community transfer.
• Capacity development of a regional resource pool of facilitators (50+) with experience in cross border sharing of skills and experience for an accelerated response to HIV/AIDS.
• The formation of country level facilitation teams in 5 countries, who utilize similar strategies of team leadership development, programme to programme visits and facilitators team meetings at national level.
• Leadership support at international and regional levels for the Regional Facilitation Team as an integrated part of the Salvation Army. This is represented in International Africa Department support for the Regional Team, inclusion in the yearly Conference of Africa Leaders (COAL), and the facilitation of an all Africa Leaders Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Inter-organisational partnerships with UNAIDS, UNDP, Alliance and others for the strengthening of community responses (UNAIDS initiative in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda and Nigeria), the formation of National Facilitation Teams through UNAIDS HCD Unit Geneva (eg Zambia and Rwanda), and UNDP community mobilization in South Africa, Swaziland and Ethiopia.