ELECTRONIC BULLETIN 14

AMICAALL MALAWI PREPARES ACTION PLAN

AMICAALL Malawi has prepared a one-year action plan aimed at enhancing local government capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS in five municipalities. The AMICAALL Coordinator in Malawi will be working with local authorities and other partners to facilitate the implementation of this action plan. Funding support for these activities is being provided by the World Bank. Ongoing technical support and guidance is being provided by the Alliance Secretariat and the UN AMICAALL Partnership Programme.

AMICAALL MALI LAUNCHES ACTIVITIES IN SIX MUNICIPALITIES

AMICAALL Mali has identified funding from national partners for a full-time AMICAALL Coordinator. Activities have now been launched in six municipalities. Initial work has focused on local government and civil society partners setting up Municipal HIV/AIDS Teams. This is facilitating local government/civil society collaboration and coordination as well as ensuring that assessments, planning and development of local action plans and information systems are undertaken in a concerted and inclusive manner. A good working relationship has also been developed between the AMICAALL Programme and the National AIDS Programme, which will facilitate a more enabling environment for local government responses to the epidemic.

AMICAALL SWAZILAND: EXPANDING SERVICES AND PARTNERSHIPS

During the last few months, the AMICAALL Swaziland Programme has been working with local authorities and community HIV/AIDS Action Committees to expand needed services and develop partnerships. This includes:

• Developing a Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) strategy. The strategy has been designed to reduce the Prevalence of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) by promoting the utilization of PMTCT services offered by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The strategy was developed based on information gathered from baseline and behavioural assessment studies to capture the communities’ perceptions, practices, beliefs and behaviours regarding HIV and AIDS. This strategy is being implemented by the AMICAALL Swaziland Programme in collaboration with the Academy for Education Development (AED) and the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation.
• Establishing Feeding Centres. With funding from the Global Fund, the AMICAALL Swaziland Programme has taken steps to establish and strengthen 40 feeding centres in urban areas in response to growing food insecurity in urban areas as a result of HIV/AIDS, unemployment and limited farming land Food support will be provided to orphans and vulnerable children, home-based care clients and bereaved vulnerable adults. These services will be implemented in collaboration with other NGOs, urban authorities and community groups.
• Strengthening Home-Based Care Delivery Services. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and nine municipalities, the AMICAALL Swaziland Programme facilitated training of 206 home-based care volunteers, as part of ongoing efforts to expand home based care services The training aims to ensure that community supervisors of urban home-based programmes have effective leadership skills.
• Focusing on Youth Development. The AMICAALL Swaziland Programme is collaborating on several youth-focused initiatives with organisations, such as Swaziland Olympic & Commonwealth Games Association, Swaziland Dance Sports Association, Swaziland Basketball Association and the Swaziland National Youth Council (SNYC). AMICAALL Swaziland and this coalition of organisations are collaborating on the development of strategic directions to address the growing challenges facing young people in Swaziland.
• South-South Cooperation on Expanding Access to Treatment. A delegation from Swaziland toured the Netcom office and Ithembalethu Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ARV) Clinic in Umlazi, Durban, South Africa. The delegation included representatives from the AMICAALL Swaziland Programme, Manzini City Council and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The delegation reviewed the systems and structures at the clinic with the idea of establishing a similar clinic at the Lamvelase Health Centre in Manzini, Swaziland.

AMICAALL UGANDA: HIV/AIDS MUNICIPAL AND URBAN WORKPLACE GUIDE, EXPANDING MUNICIPAL HIV/AIDS TASKFORCES AND PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The AMICAALL Uganda Programme has undertaken the following activities during the last few months:

• Produced an HIV/AIDS Municipal and Urban Workplace Guide. As part of efforts to scale-up responses to HIV/AIDS in the workplace, the AMICAALL Uganda Programme, with support from UNDP, has produced a guide for managing HIV/AIDS in municipal and urban work places. The guide has been distributed to all local authorities in Uganda and is being widely used to encourage municipal and urban work places to initiate HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programmes.
• Expanding Municipal HIV/AIDS Taskforces. With technical support provided by the Alliance Secretariat, the AMICAALL Uganda Programme facilitated consultations with key stakeholders in Lira Municipality and the Makindye Division of Kampala. The goal of the consultations was to enhance coordinated responses to HIV/AIDS at the local level. Participants agreed on the steps needed to enable the Municipal AIDS Taskforces to prepare and implement work programmes, including development and dissemination of municipal HIV/AIDS service directories.
• Hosted Delegations from South Africa and MDP. In an effort to expand partnerships, the AMICAALL Uganda Programme hosted delegations from the South African city of Bloemfontein and Municipal Development Partnership (MDP).

AMICAALL ZAMBIA: LINKING LOCAL AND NATIONAL PLANNING

AMICAALL Zambia has completed a round of planning activities at district and local levels aimed at integrating local and national planning efforts. This will be followed by the implementation of a range of capacity development activities aimed at enhancing local government ability to better access information on HIV/AIDS and develop specific actions, in partnership with civil society organisations and other partners, to scale up HIV/AIDS-related services at the local level.