HIV, Health and Rights: Sustaining Community Action

This International HIV/AIDS Alliance (the Alliance) document sets out high-level direction and sets 17 measurable goals for the Alliance. The document sets objectives until 2015 for linking organisations to use in coordination with national plans. The Alliance secretariat is using it to develop their operational plan.

Some of the communication-related actions to achieve results are the following:

• Increase access to health care by:
  • integration of HIV programmes into national and state health systems and programmes, with a particular focus on integrating HIV prevention and care into sexual and reproductive health and tuberculosis services.
  • advocate for HIV prevention, care, and treatment programmes provided by other sectors to be friendly and accessible for key populations - advocate for them to work closely with community organisations and networks to ensure strong coordination, case managemen,t and a continuum of care.
  • work to create an enabling social and legal environment, concentrating efforts in countries where it can have the greatest impact.
• Support community-based organisations (CBOs):
  • support CBOs with technical and financial resources to build their leadership and programmatic capacity. This will enable them to work effectively with government, the private sector, and other organisations active in health and human rights.
  • go beyond an emphasis on strengthening individual organisations to a focus on community and health systems strengthening.
  • develop and test new models in different contexts so wherever the Alliance works, strong CBOs will address the HIV and health needs of their communities by working as part of a wider system.
• Advocate for HIV, health, and human rights
  • advocate for structural and political changes that will improve access to and availability, affordability, and quality of health services, and that promote human rights.
  • focus advocacy against the criminalisation of HIV transmission, and of sex between men, sex work, and drug use because these laws undermine effective HIV programming and violate human rights.
  • provide technical support to strengthen civil society and key population participation in decision-making.
  • advocate for greater government transparency and accountability on HIV, health and human rights, policymaking, and health spending.
  • work in partnership with national civil society coalitions and platforms. 
• Build a stronger Alliance.
  • work in new ways and nurture new skills to be better at connecting health and community systems and at understanding government budgeting and contracting processes.
  • build partnerships with public and private sectors and learn to mobilise resources from new and diverse non-governmental income sources.
  • intensify existing Alliance approaches to capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, quality programming, and evidence-based policy and advocacy.
  • differentiate the approach in low- and middle-income countries.