Programme Leaders

Swaziland National Association of Local Authorities (SNALA)
Local Authorities Managers Association of Swaziland (LAMAS)

Background

Having taken cognisance of the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the significant impact this will have on cities and towns in the country, the local authorities in Swaziland, under the auspices of the Swaziland National Association of Local Authorities (SNALA) and Local Authorities Managers Association of Swaziland (LAMAS) joined with other Councils in Africa and launched the Swaziland Chapter of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa on 28th January 2000 in Manzini.

To demonstrate their commitment to including strategies to address the consequences of HIV/AIDS on the cities and towns in their municipal management agendas, all local authorities endorsed the SNALA Declaration on HIV/AIDS at the launch. This Declaration obligates all Councils to develop and implement policies and strategies appropriate to the specific HIV/AIDS related socio-economic problems in their communities. The Swaziland Chapter of the Alliance has adopted the African Mayors Initiative on Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL) strategy as the mechanism to implement the principles of the Declaration.

The programme's foundation is the AMICAALL strategy, developed in collaboration with the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa, United Nations Development Programme and UNAIDS, which acknowledges the people centred, multi-sectoral approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The key objectives of this strategy are:

• Initiate a multi-sectoral approach for community level HIV/AIDS interventions
• Increase awareness of the causes and consequences of the epidemic
• Improve capacity of urban local governments and communities working together to identify risk factors and jointly develop effective responses
• Intensify awareness of development challenges ---> behaviour change
• Protect vulnerable community groups affected by the epidemic, in particular women, children and the poor
• Promote partnerships and actions to sustain local-level efforts on HIV/AIDS
• Develop capacity of local governments to provide necessary support

The AMICAALL process involves inclusive, participatory planning, capacity-building, locally led activity at the municipal level and overall co-ordination and sharing and dissemination of lessons learned. AMICAALL builds upon decentralisation of key municipal management functions and strengthens local capacity to develop appropriate and effective responses to HIV/AIDS-related issues.

Local needs assessment activities establish dialogue with local communities and inform the development of subsequent action plans. Their implementation is then co-ordinated by the municipal teams linked together through the AMICAALL project structure which also provides the means through which local communities, together with their particular concerns and aspirations, can enter a dialogue with policymakers to work together to create a more enabling environment.

While the primary focus is at the local level, this is simultaneously consolidated through complimentary activity at regional and national levels with participating national-level policymakers developing policies based on the needs of grassroots communities and vulnerable groups.

AMICAALL is a particularly appropriate response to the HIV epidemic. The process 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, risk, response and impact) and expansive (local action informs policy, and changes in policy facilitate a more enabling environment etc.).

Programme Determinants

Recognition has been given by the Councils in Swaziland to the fact that HIV/AIDS is more than a health issue alone - it is a development issue and if the local authorities do nothing, development gains from the past decades are at risk of being wiped out.

The overall objective of AMICAALL/Swaziland is to address the social, economic, cultural, political and health dimensions of the epidemic in 11 Alliance member urban municipalities in Swaziland.

All policy development, action planning and advocacy is based on the premise that HIV/AIDS is a development issue and any response programmes must take into account the health and non health facility approach to health issues.

For example, there is no escaping the linkage between poverty and HIV/AIDS. The project considers poverty alleviation as a component of prevention, in that if people have access to the basic necessities of life, they will not be tempted to situations of risk merely to sustain themselves. In addition, if a person's basic survival needs are satisfied, they will have the opportunity to engage in self-improvement and developmental activities.

Although the programme is focussed on the urban areas of the Kingdom, the projects implemented so far, and those to be implemented, will be available to a population beyond the urban boundaries. The cities and towns are focal points for the regions and localities and as such serve people from the surrounding rural areas in addition to the urban dwellers.

Community Participation and Partnership

The principle at the centre of the AMICAALL/Swaziland Programme is that of partnership. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic affects society in its broadest context, AMICAALL partners are representative of all sectors of society including International Agencies, Government, Non-governmental Organisations, Community Based Organisations, civil society, target communities, vulnerable groups and the private sector, each contributing their respective areas of expertise and competence.

The core of the local level municipal response are the Municipal HIV Teams (MHT). The MHT is a mechanism which encompasses the multi-sectoral nature of the development based HIV/AIDS programmes and involves all community based organizations and governmental agencies that deliver HIV/AIDS related services in the Councils' jurisdiction, together with representatives of local communities and vulnerable groups. Prominent in membership and participation are people living with HIV and AIDS. The objective of the MHT is to deliver an integrated multi-sectoral response to this crisis, plan local activities, coordinate the Council's response, avoid duplication and identify and act upon service delivery gaps.

The local MHTs have recorded significant progress, particularly in the pilot projects in the Cities of Mbabane and Manzini, with meaningful achievements in the areas of awareness, prevention, youth programmes, material support, home based care, legal aid and education opportunities for AIDS orphans.

In addition, partnerships with other sectors of society and the international community are a vital component of the strategy. Bi-lateral donors have joined the Programme and the private sector has also been active. An example of such a partnership is the provision, at no cost, of extensive technical assistance by PricewaterhouseCoopers to development of locally based, transparent and accountable grant funding mechanisms.

Prorgamme Methodology, Activities and Outcomes

The AMICAALL methodology is:

• People centred
• Gender sensitive
• Conducive to the creation of supportive ethical, legal, and human rights frameworks
• Inclusive and participatory
• Comprised of mechanisms and processes designed to enable informed participation and collaboration of all those involved, in particular those directly infected and affected by the epidemic.

AMICAALL strengthens local action, leadership and commitment in establishing a supportive environment that makes prevention, care and support possible. Within the AMICAALL framework, people, rather than the virus, are at the centre of the response.

AMICAALL/Swaziland has five key goals:

1. To increase awareness of the specific and localised causes and consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among national and municipal policymakers.

2. To improve capacity of local government and communities to identify and resolve problems associated with the HIV epidemic.

3. To enhance understanding of the relative importance of the risk factors, causes, and consequences of the HIV epidemic in the 11 Alliance member municipalities.

4. To create an enabling policy environment to respond to the needs of vulnerable groups affected by the epidemic.

5. To increase capacity at the national and regional levels for scaling up, mainstreaming, and disseminating the AMICAALL process throughout the country under the aegis of SNALA and LAMAS.

To achieve these objectives, this initiative involves development and use of tools and methodologies for municipal level, multi-sectoral planning and management, taking into account the specific needs and conditions of the communities in those municipalities and reflecting processes designed to enable informed participation and collaboration of all those involved - particularly those affected by the epidemic.

Community members themselves define the risk factors and risk behaviours. They and their policymakers will together define responsibilities for more effective and sustainable responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

AMICAALL/Swaziland institutionalises processes and systems for community-based responses to HIV/AIDS at the municipal level. This is carried out through the Municipal HIV Teams as referred to above and a national project coordination structure. The aim is to coordinate local responses, maintain partnerships, avoid duplication and identify service delivery gaps.

Resource mobilisation and implementation strategies have been implemented. In addition to substantial financial contributions from the Councils themselves, the Project has so far attracted external assistance for implementation from UNDP, UNAIDS, UN AMICAALL Partnership Programme, and other donors and private sector partners. Resource mobilisation and partnerships established so far include:

• Africa Capacity Building Foundation - Grant of US$1.06 million to strengthen human and institutional capacity in order to empower communities to design and manage responses to HIV/AIDS and implement micro projects in the eleven (11) local authorities in the Kingdom of Swaziland. This project involves capacity building at the local level to identify specific needs, develop programmes and micro-projects and evaluation. This programme commenced in June 2001. Start up workshop was held in August 2001.
  
  
• UNDP, UNAIDS, WHO and UN AMICAALL Partnership Programme - Funding for local AMICAALL launches, consultancies and technical assistance.
  
  
• Telluride AIDS Benefit - Community to Community Partnership between the Telluride AIDS Benefit City of Telluride, Colorado, USA, and the City of Manzini for provision of material assistance, sanitation, medical support and education to vulnerable communities, with focus on women and home based care. US$20,000 provided so far with sustainable support commitments, with a commitment for on-going collaboration.
  
  
• PricewaterhouseCoopers - Technical assistance to develop sustainable and flexible national funding mechanism and implementation guidelines for transparency and accountability for donor and other locally generated resources.
  
  
• Coca-Cola Foundation - In principle commitment for the construction of a Voluntary Testing, Counselling and ancillary services centre in Manzini.

A summary of the policy implementation activities in a sample of local authorities in Swaziland is attached.

In addition, expressions of support have come from Africare and other City to City Partner organisations.

A series of activity based monitoring and evaluation indicators have been developed to assess the short and longer-term impact of the Programme.

The AMICAALL Swaziland Programme is included in the Swaziland National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS (2000 - 2005) as the Local Government (Cities and Towns) sectoral response. The policy dialogue components of the Programme include a communication linkage from the local Municipal HIV Teams to the AMICAALL Swaziland National Programme Management Committee, with an interface to the National HIV/AIDS Crisis Management and Technical Committee, which is the key national policy and coordination agency, reporting directly to the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Harmony with national HIV/AIDS policy is ensured.

In addition to its experimental and innovative role within the country, this Programme will serve a dual function as a pilot for other countries in the sub-region. Lessons learned from the Swaziland experience are being and will continue to be shared with other municipalities across the sub-region. To date, participation in programme activities has come from Durban (South Africa), Maseru (Lesotho), Lusaka (Zambia), Gaborone (Botswana), Windhoek (Namibia) and Kampala and Soroti (Uganda). Additional regional participation and study tours are planned as a component of the project. The objective is to replicate or adapt key lessons for application in country specific contexts.

The continental Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa office in Windhoek, Namibia will contribute to the dissemination of lessons learned from the Swaziland experience and will co-ordinate among other AMICAALL efforts within the region.

The establishment of a coordination structure and transparent and accountable reporting mechanisms provides a sound and capable foundation for sustainability of the project and continuous resource mobilisation.

The AMICAALL Swaziland Programme is an innovative endeavour to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic where it has the most impact, at the local community (grassroots) level. The multi-dimensional nature of the epidemic demands multi-sectoral responses and the local authorities are best placed to facilitate meaningful interventions.

The AMICAALL strategy offers an inclusive, partnership approach to policy development and implementation. It ensures involvement of all stakeholders from the strategy development phase through planning and implementation.

AMICAALL Swaziland does not have all the answers, but by working together there is much that can be done. The Programme emphasises the message of hope and encouragement, although the challenges are many.

The enthusiasm, commitment and motivation of all stakeholders to the objectives and achievements of the Programme is very encouraging. Examples of success to date are clear and indications of future meaningful outcomes from AMICAALL Swaziland are evident.

SUMMARY OF SWAZILAND LOCAL AUTHORITY HIV/AIDS ACTIVITIES

Swaziland Chapter - SNALA/LAMAS AMICAALL launched January 2000 in Manzini

• SNALA/LAMAS presented AMICAALL strategic framework for integration with national initiatives and SNALA Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

Ezulwini Town Board

• Launched AMICAALL in Feruary 2000
• Established voluntary testing and counselling centre in partnership with Salvation Army

Mankayane Town Board

• Celebrated World HIV/AIDS day in December 1999
• AMICAALL launched in March 2000
• Has HIV/AIDS Multi-Sectoral Community Committee
• Consensus-building workshop conducted
• Began local fund raising campaign in April 2000
• Conducted study on truancy and HIV/AIDS
• SNAP Training 130 trainers
• Compiled Mankayane Hospital research findings
• Swedish Alliance Church initiated home-based care
• Anti-AIDS high school clubs started
• Setting up a 'man to man talk' programme
• Setting up testing/counselling centre in Mankayane Hospital

Manzini City Council

• AMICAALL National Launch in January 2000
• Held Manzini Day Fight Against AIDS in March 2000
• Municipal HIV Team established and operational
• Established Community to Community Partnership with Telluride AIDS Benefit, USA, for home based care, material and medical support, and education.
• Annual awareness, education and advocacy display at Swaziland International Trade Fair
• Established Counselling/Legal Aid/Advocacy Centre - Hlanganani Help Centre
• Condom distribution
• Africities 2000 Summit Award for best HIV/AIDS Initiative

Lavumisa Town Board

• Launched AMICAALL in April 2000
• Established Partnership with Lutheran Development Services
• Training 15 trainers/counsellors
• School campaigns on abstinence
• Has adult education activities on usage and distribution of condoms

Pigg's Peak Town Council

• AMICAALL launched in September 2000
• Youth awareness programmes.
• Planning take over of and operation of KOBWA sponsored VTC Centre

Mbabane City Council

• AMICAALL launched in November 2000
• On-going HIV/AIDS awareness and education programmes
• Distribution of condoms
• Treatment of STD's
• Pre and post test counselling
• Home-based care visits
• Youth project

Ngwenya Town Board

• AMICAALL launched in May 2001