HIV/AIDS Prevention and Impact Mitigation in the World of Work in sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa has remained the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic, with 22.4 million people living with HIV and with 67 percent of new infections worldwide. From a sub-regional perspective, Southern Africa, where this programme is primarily implemented, is the area most deeply affected by the epidemic. Several factors have contributed to the spread of HIV in the region and these are compounded by prevailing poverty and various forms of inequality.
Project details
Contact
ILO Harare Country Office, Block 8 Arundel Office Park, Norfolk Road, Mt Pleasant, Harare. Tel +263 4 369805-12, Email [email protected]
Additional details
In order to coordinate the HIV response at the regional level, the Southern African Development Community finalised the new HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework (2010 - 2015) during the period under review. The programme has played a role in supporting this new framework by addressing not only individual behaviour, but also structural issues including social exclusion, empowerment and employment in terms of HIV/AIDS.
With the finalisation of this new framework and member States scaling up their responses to the epidemic, the ILO has a unique opportunity to mobilize its constituents to make a concerted effort to strengthen their HIV initiatives at the workplace. Activities in the different programme components have been tailored to feed into the National Strategic frameworks and monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as ongoing programmes of the Ministries of Transport, line ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other institutions with responsibility for cooperatives, business development and the informal economy. This has facilitated ownership and sustainability of the programme interventions.
In the report of the mid-term evaluation of the programme conducted in late 2008, it was recommended that a review of the monitoring and evaluation system be undertaken to better harmonise the data collection system and improve its coherence.
As a result of these recommendations, the monitoring framework was harmonized and better aligned at the beginning of 2009, to ensure more coherent data tracking through which results could be better assessed between countries and also programme components. Gender equality was addressed throughout the programme. More emphasis on gender issues is envisaged in the future phase of the programme in order to address the unequal gender balance within partner organizations. The transport sector project, which forms a specific component of this programme, mobilized partners towards the need for collaborative interventions and arrangements in support of ongoing efforts. A major strategy utilized by this project is to work along national and cross-border ccorridors and hotspot points.
In Zimbabwe the project has contributed to a decline in HIV prevalence, reported to be just above 13% which has been linked to changes in sexual behaviour among the population (UNAIDS, 2009). The government is implementing a comprehensive multi-sectoral response coordinated by the National AIDS Council (National AIDS Council Act 1999) and support has been provided by the ILO in several areas contributing to the multi-sectoral response (SMEs, Transport and Mining). The tripartite constituents have also been sufficiently mobilised to contribute to the progress recorded in the context of the national response.
With the finalisation of this new framework and member States scaling up their responses to the epidemic, the ILO has a unique opportunity to mobilize its constituents to make a concerted effort to strengthen their HIV initiatives at the workplace. Activities in the different programme components have been tailored to feed into the National Strategic frameworks and monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as ongoing programmes of the Ministries of Transport, line ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations and other institutions with responsibility for cooperatives, business development and the informal economy. This has facilitated ownership and sustainability of the programme interventions.
In the report of the mid-term evaluation of the programme conducted in late 2008, it was recommended that a review of the monitoring and evaluation system be undertaken to better harmonise the data collection system and improve its coherence.
As a result of these recommendations, the monitoring framework was harmonized and better aligned at the beginning of 2009, to ensure more coherent data tracking through which results could be better assessed between countries and also programme components. Gender equality was addressed throughout the programme. More emphasis on gender issues is envisaged in the future phase of the programme in order to address the unequal gender balance within partner organizations. The transport sector project, which forms a specific component of this programme, mobilized partners towards the need for collaborative interventions and arrangements in support of ongoing efforts. A major strategy utilized by this project is to work along national and cross-border ccorridors and hotspot points.
In Zimbabwe the project has contributed to a decline in HIV prevalence, reported to be just above 13% which has been linked to changes in sexual behaviour among the population (UNAIDS, 2009). The government is implementing a comprehensive multi-sectoral response coordinated by the National AIDS Council (National AIDS Council Act 1999) and support has been provided by the ILO in several areas contributing to the multi-sectoral response (SMEs, Transport and Mining). The tripartite constituents have also been sufficiently mobilised to contribute to the progress recorded in the context of the national response.