Mobilising masses to combat AIDS

by Shanika Sriyananda

This year marks the time when AIDS was first discovered twenty five years ago. While the number of those infected is rising by a staggering five million every year, the world sadly marked yet another World AIDS Day last week. Today, twenty million people have died and 40 million are living with it. Out of the 40 million, 25 million are from Commonwealth countries. Although 4 million are in immediate need of Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) in the Commonwealth, fewer than 10 per cent have access to it. Over 72 per cent of all HIV positive women are from the Commonwealth and their life expectancy will fall to 30 by 2010 in countries hardest hit by AIDS.

Given the fact that a vaccine or a cure for HIV/AIDS is yet to be discovered, the Commonwealth Foundation (CF) is actively engaged in supporting civil society-led coordinated and strategic programmes that draw on the experiences of people at the grassroot level in order to ensure that the money spent brings about a sustainable response to combat HIV. A pan-Commonwealth network of civil society organisations (CSOs) has been initiated by the Foundation that will link up people affected by and living with HIV/AIDS to engage with and address key issues in dealing with HIV/AIDS in the Commonwealth.

The CF, which has geared to assist its member countries, believes that most often, factors that determine HIV transmission are outside the influence of governments and CSOs can respond more quickly than other agencies, as they have the capability to mobilise resources in designing community mitigation strategies, harnessing skills, knowledge, and practices that are valuable tools in the fight against AIDS.

Main objective

The local non-governmental organisations at grassroot level have a vital role in terms of effectively mobilising people on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in a more sustained manner, Programme Manager for Sustainable Development of the Commonwealth Foundation (CF) Anisha Rajapakse told the 'Sunday Observer'.

HIV/AIDS is a key programme area for the Foundation and our main objective is to strengthen the capacities of civil society organisations that are working with people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, Rajapakse added.

According to her, HIV/AIDS is becoming a serious problem all over the world and more so in the Commonwealth countries, where over 60 per cent of the total population infected with HIV/AIDS are living. "Although Sri Lanka is a low prevalence country, unless prevention and behaviourial change initiatives are initiated early, the numbers of people being infected with the virus could easily increase.

Rajapakse, who met President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister of Health Nimal Siripala de Silva last week commended the political commitment and leadership that is clearly evident on prevention of HIV/AIDS in Sri Lanka. She added that it was indeed a good sign and that Sri Lanka was a positive case in point for the whole region. In his World AIDS Day message, the President thanked the Commonwealth Foundation and other international partners for their support in efforts to contain the AIDS pandemic in Sri Lanka.

The CF, which was established in 1965, is an intergovernmental organisation funded by and reporting to Commonwealth governments. According to Rajapakse, under its Sustainable Development programme, apart from HIV/AIDS, the CF is focusing on Access to primary and secondary eduction for girls, adaptation to climate change and disaster risk management and debt relief across the Commonwealth. The Foundation has the mission and mandate to enhance the role of civil society organisations across the Commonwealth and has a positive history of facilitating strategic partnerships and providing leadership across the Commonwealth," she explained.

Rajapakse also said that multi-sectoral national, regional and international responses to combatting the AIDS pandemic in the Commonwealth and beyond, require unity, partnership and sustained commitment - and calls for enhancing and sustaining the involvement of civil society groups at every step of the way.

Meanwhile, over 80 NGO representatives at grassroot level presented and discussed their work in the area of HIV/AIDS at a meeting organised by the Ministry and facilitated by the Commonwealth Foundation last week. The representatives from all over the country including Colombo and the North and East participated in the meeting in order for the Foundation to assess capacity needs. "There they highlighted their successes and failures as well as the gaps that need to be filled for them to carry out the work better.

According to Rajapakse, the meeting was also a forum, which gave an opportunity to all these NGOs to learn about what other organisations were doing in this field and an opportunity to network with eachother.

Local communities

She pointed out that the majority of requests from NGOs called for assistance to enhance their knowledge and skills to carry out their activities more effectively at the grassroots level. Training and skills development in working with local communities as well as high risk groups were requested by many. Information about specific requirements articulated at the meeting will be assessed and shared with other partners such as UNAIDS, WHO, UNFPA and the Ministry of Health and relevant training programmes will be subsequently developed that could be rolled out across the country.

It is hoped that training for local NGOs will commence early 2007, she said. Rajapakse also added that the Commonwealth Foundation as a grant-making body will provide grants to selected CSOs in order to strengthen their capacity to plan, fund, lead and manage national and community-level responses to the pandemic whilst promoting a gender-sensitive and human rights-based approach. Rajapakse stressed the importance of enhancing the skills capacities of local NGOs as the country is gearing to host the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which is one of the largest global gatherings on HIV and AIDS, in August 2007.

The ICAAP is a major biennial Congress on HIV and AIDS for the Asia Pacific region that brings together civil society, government and other key players in the fight against AIDS. Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva met with the Director of the Commonwealth Foundation and Ms Rajapakse at the Foundation offices in London earlier this year, to identify opportunities for collaboration and requested the Foundation's support towards this event.

Rajapakse added that the Commonwealth Foundation was indeed committed to play its part in making the 8th ICAAP a major success and would work collaboratively with government, civil society and other stakeholders to achieve this objective.

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