SADC Secretariat facilitated the organization of the 4th Meeting of the Steering Committee of SADC HIV and AIDS Fund held on March 11 -12, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The objectives of the meeting were to assess the progress made in the implementation of the funds, review the report of year one of the implementation of the fund and define the modalities for the second round of the implementation.
The Steering Committee approved the revised guidelines for submitting proposals and the road map for the implementation of the Round II of SADC HIV and AIDS Fund. The meeting also approved the Interim Report of the Implementation of the HIV and AIDS Fund produced by the Secretariat. Although the implementation of the first round of the SADC HIV Fund is not yet completed, preliminary results indicate that the implementation of the projects funded would contribute to an effective, evidence-based and coordinated response to HIV prevention needs of men, youth, children and other populations at particular risk of HIV infection in the region.
For the first round, 13 projects accounting for a total of USD 6,206,282 were approved for implementation over a period of two years. The disbursement of the funds to these projects started in July 2011. As of February 2013, a total amount of USD 3,596,891.10, which represents 57.96% of total contract amount, had been disbursed to 12 approved projects. The implementation of the funded projects across Member States had enhanced capacity to address HIV prevention. It had also generated knowledge which will inform the region in developing evidence-based policies/interventions. Some of the achievements / benefits, among others, are:
- Training of a total of 30 Community Based Organizations in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe on Good governance,
- Capacity building through Radio programmes and Media Fellowships of 140 peer educators at border posts with a potential to increase knowledge and safe sexual practices among truck drivers along the corridors,
- Capacity building of more than 800 Health Care Workers essentially nurses and midwives in 6 SADC Member States ( Angola, DRC, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique and Tanzania) to improve universal precautions in the hospitals
- 144 journalists trained in Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia on in-depth quality media reporting on HIV Prevention issues
Increased of HIV Counselling and Testing in Universities.
These preliminary achievements/benefits were facilitated through the establishment of the coordination and oversight structure for the operationalisation, the Steering Committee of the Funds, the development of Guidelines for the Implementation of SADC HIV and AIDS Fund Projects, the Development of sound joint proposals funded by the SADC HIV Fund and the availability of funds to finance approved projects.
The implementation of the first round of the SADC HIV and AIDS was facilitated by the Secretariat through the Directorates of SHD-SP, Finance and Budget, and the Audit and Legal Units. The next meeting of the Steering Committee is expected to take place in October 2013 in Malawi. The meeting was attended by 10 SADC Member States (Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) currently members of the Steering Committee and was chaired by Mozambique.
