Mbn hiv/aids evaluation final report Team of consultants

5.3. Conclusions on the performance of the HIV/AIDS focussed organisations in Southern Africa and India (EQ 3)

What has been the counterpart’s contribution (Aids-focused organisations/integrated Aids work) to the fight against HIV/AIDS?
Service delivery related to HIV/AIDS

The 17 HIV/AIDS focussed organisations visited are mainly strong organisations involved in service delivery activities (comprehensive package of HIV/AIDS services) covering the whole continuum from prevention to care. The strength of their programmes lies in the holistic approach to HIV/AIDS, combining and linking several HIV/AIDS activities (awareness, VCT, HBC, OVC, income generating activities, etc). The support of CFAs towards these counterparts has resulted in an increased capacity of service providers and an increased number of people being served. However, outputs and outcomes remain somehow limited due to the small scale of interventions, the similar approaches and the varying quality of services offered. The counterparts and the CFa’s are confronted with several challenges:

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  To intensify and optimize prevention activities and make them more effective
  
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  To improve the quality of the HBC services with specific attention to the gender divide and the increased burden on female voluntary caregivers
  
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  To improve the quality and results of income generating activities
  
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  To look for appropriate responses for the growing phenomenon of OVCs
  
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  The general weak link between HIV/AIDS and gender
  
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  To enhance free treatment roll out programmes and reflect on the role of civil society in this.
  

All CFAs have tackled some of these issues during their dialogues and capacity building initiatives but this process needs to be intensified. More collaboration and exchange of good experiences is needed.
Although qualitative data are rarely available, the evaluators noticed by the counterparts visited (interviews and focus groups discussions) a good understanding by beneficiaries of HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves. However, many of the organisations do not seem to reach men to discuss responsible attitudes and male sexual behaviour (except AFSA).


Civil society building

All 17 HIV/AIDS focussed counterparts visited are, in one way or an other, involved in the organisation and development of support groups, or in capacity building activities for AIDS service organisations (CBOs, NGOs and government services). Members of these support groups and staff of CFAs acquired HIV/AIDS competence and skills and have become resource persons in their neighbourhoods. Although some barriers of stigma and taboo have been broken down the evaluators could witness denial attitude and stigma. These (new) organisations are very much focussed on their daily work (mostly HIV/AIDS service delivery). They are rarely involved in advocacy activities or linked to bigger networks. The challenge will be to keep up the motivation of volunteers and to increase linking and learning.

Advocacy and lobby

Concerning advocacy and lobbying, some counterparts are acknowledged as leaders at a national level in advocating for the rights of PLWHA (WASN, ALP, SIAAP). The role of most counterparts remained at local level without going to scale or without inspiring the bigger organisations (donors) for their innovative and new approaches. This is due to the limited human resources and lobby capacities and missed opportunities to link their experiences and practices to national and international lobby networks.