Accelerating HIV Grant Implementation
GIP ESTHER, WHO & TGF Joint Meeting
12-14 June 2006
Yaoundé, CAMEROON
http://www.theglobalfund.org/ru/in_acti … efault.asp
The West and Central Africa Cluster of the Global Fund in collaboration with the HIV/AIDS department of WHO/HQ and GIP ESTHER organized a regional meeting targeting selected west and central African countries that are facing difficulties in implementation of the HIV/AIDS programs. The meeting took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from 12-14 June 2006.
The meeting was conceptualized as a workshop that uses a problem solving approach to deal with grant issues. The key objectives were to identify and analyze HIV/AIDS program implementation bottlenecks, develop solutions, and address countries' needs for technical support in accelerating Global Fund supported programs.
Participating countries were: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinée Conakry, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo. Participants of PRs, Civil Society representatives involved in grant implementation, and CCM members or representatives of key governmental structures involved in the implementation of HIV/AIDS programs were the primary target of this event.
Discussions and support to the partipcants focused around four themes:
* Monitoring and evaluation of impact of HIV/AIDS interventions. Opportunities and challenges in monitoring outcome and impact indicators
* Forecasting, management and distribution of HIV/AIDS drugs. Opportunities and challenges in developing and maintaining an effective distribution chain for HIV/AIDS drugs
* Working towards universal access: Decentralization of treatment, prevention, care and support for PLWHA
* Accelerated implementation of HIV/AIDS programs: Diversification and mobilization of implementing actors (civil society, PLWHA, communities and private sector)
In addition PMTCT was presented in a separate technical discussion sessions.
This workshop offered an opportunity to countries and partners operating in the region to discuss and share common challenges and best practices and develop solutions pertinent to their country context. By the end of the workshop countries developed country specific action plans to address HIV/AIDS program implementation bottlenecks and identified technical assistance needs and providers to ensure acceleration of their HIV/AIDS control programs.
GIP ESTHER provided organization logistics in Cameroon and expertise for selected topics; WHO experts along with UNAIDS, USAID, GTZ, TGF staff and other technical experts provided technical assistance and expert support in the working group discussions and facilitated development of country specific action plans.
