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UNITED CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OF AFRICA
(UCLGA)
Capacity Building (CB) and Development
Ref: CB13 - HIV/AIDS Responsive Local Governance
Purpose and Description
HIV-AIDS has been recognized as devastating pandemic that
erodes the productive capacity of countries. While its epicenter
lies in the health of individuals and the curative and
preventive medical arena, it has had highly negative impacts on
the social and economic development as well as the cultural
wellbeing of nations. While it is known that HIV-AIDS has had a
negative impact on local government, the full extent of this has
not been fully comprehended, nor adequate adaptation strategies
been developed and implemented.
HIV/AIDS remains one of the biggest impediments to
sustainable development for the world in general and Africa, in
particular. Despite a few strides recorded here and there, AIDS
continues to take a terrible toll, especially in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Nearly 7,500 people get infected with HIV and 5,500 die
from AIDS, every day. This is mostly due to a lack of HIV
prevention and treatment services.
MDGs Progress Reports indicate that there have been notable
improvements in prevention programmes, resulting in the decline
of the number of people newly infected with HIV declined from 3
million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2007. Furthermore, the
expansion of antiretroviral treatment services has seen a
decline of the number of people who die from AIDS from 2.2
million in 2005 to 2.0 million in 2007. However, against this
very encouraging trend, lies the somewhat paradoxical reality
that the number of people living with HIV rose from an estimated
29.5 million in 2001 to 33 million in 2007 largely because newly
infected people survive longer. The vast majority of those
living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.
While various initiatives have been undertaken by central
governments, United Nations agencies, the Africa Union, Non
Governmental Organisations, Community-Based Organisations,
Faith-Based Organisations, etc. to combat HIV/AIDS, the
contribution of local governments to these efforts remain very
timid. This realization by local government leaders led to the
creation of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV
and AIDS in Africa, also known as the Alliance.
The Alliance was established in 1998 at the 1st Africities
Summit in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and has established a
Secretariat in Windhoek, Namibia with the aim of assisting local
government authorities to integrate the response to HIV and AIDS
in municipal functioning rather than establishing separate
structures. The activities of The Alliance are driven through a
strategic framework and programme known as The Alliance of
Mayor’s Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local
Level (AMICAALL), which was developed in collaboration with the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United
Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS). National chapters of
the Alliance have been launched in Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Central Africa Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mali,
Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
In September 2008, the United Cities and Local Governments of
Africa (UCLGA) and The Alliance entered into a partnership under
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on matters
relating local government’s response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
This partnership is premised on the commitment shared by both
organisations to mobilising local governments to respond to the
pandemic effectively and deploying all forms of resources for
the eradication of HIV/AIDS, human capacity development and
socio-economic development of African states, cities, towns and
villages.
This project seeks to contribute to an understanding of the
social and economic impact of HIV-AIDS pandemic on local
governments and develop appropriate adaptation strategies. The
project will be undertaken in partnership with Alliance of
Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV and AIDS in Africa (The
Alliance) under the programme, the Alliance of Mayors Initiative
for Community Action on Aids at the Local Level (AMICAAL).
The project objectives are:
- To explore and identify the impacts of HIV-AIDS on local
governments in Africa;
- To develop guidelines for local governments’ response to
the HIV-AIDS pandemic and recommend appropriate remedial
programmes;
- To facilitate the sharing of experiences, knowledge and
innovations on addressing the impacts of HIV-AIDS among
local governments
- Promote the development by member municipalities of
policies on HIV and AIDS mainstreaming, incorporate these
into the various programmes of their departments, and make
relevant budgetary allocations for them.
- Advocating, lobbying, building and mobilising local
government legislative, financial and other support, civil
society, the private sector and media involvement to make
HIV/AIDS awareness and eradication a reality;
- Promoting the development and implementation of national
strategies/policies on HIV/AIDS to address the empowerment
of women, young people, the disabled and other marginalised
groups to participate fully and effectively in, all
continental HIV/AIDS programmes;
- Promoting research and providing advice that is relevant
to the development challenges of, in and for states, cities,
towns and villages of the African continent, and supporting
education and training aimed at promoting HIV/AIDs awareness
and deepening inclusivity;
- Coordination and management of multi-sectoral and
integrated response planning;
- Promoting the establishment of more AMICAALL national
chapters in African countries and developing a common
strategy and priority initiatives for joint implementation,
with a particular emphasis on localizing AMICAALL
programmes;
- Building strategic networks and partnerships with key
local and development partners/actors;
- Jointly conceptualising, initiating and implementing
forums, seminars and conferences that are of mutual interest
to the UCLGA and AMICAALL;
- Jointly mobilising resources to ensure that African
cities, towns and villages sustainably tackle the HIV/AIDS
issue as it has direct implication on the provision of other
basic services;
- Jointly promoting inter-local government and inter-state
co-operation which is integral to the sustained roll-out of
this collaborative initiative
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