The Alliance has developed a strategy: Alliance of Mayors' Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL), reflecting the importance of locally led, multisectoral action which complements supportive national policies. The AMICAALL strategy is inclusive (involving a broad range of stakeholders); responsive (reacting to locally articulated needs and brokering dialogue among local people, municipalities, policy-makers and decision-makers); gender sensitive (responding to the different experiences of men and women in terms of vulnerability, response and impact); and dynamic(local action informs national policy which in turn supports a more enabling environment for sustained responses; strengthened management and financial systems at the local level provide the foundations for scaling up responses to the epidemic).

Most importantly the actions of the Alliance and its members represent concrete examples of how local governments, working in partnership with civil society and local communities, are beginning to translate principles and goals into concrete action in African cities, towns and communities. Mechanisms are being developed to facilitate rapid disbursement of funds to communities in need and to help countries diversify their sources of funding to address the epidemic. Action-oriented monitoring and reporting tools are being developed to promote understanding of what is working, and what is not, and to make the necessary adjustments.