Increasing Civil Society Participation in the National HIV Response

Increasing Civil Society Participation in the National HIV Response: The Role of UNGASS Reporting.

The 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS provided impetus for strengthening collaboration between government and civil society partners in the HIV response. The biennial UNGASS reporting process is an opportunity for civil society to engage in a review of the implementation of commitments. The article is reporting on the descriptive analyses of the National Composite Policy Index from 135 countries; a debriefing on UNGASS reporting with civil society in 40 countries; and 3 country case studies on the UNGASS process. In the latest UNGASS reporting round, engagement of civil society occurred in the vast majority of countries. The utility of UNGASS reporting seemed to be better understood by both government and civil society, compared with previous reporting rounds. Civil society participation was strongest when civil society groupings took the initiative and organized themselves. An important barrier was their lack of experience with national level processes. Civil society involvement in national HIV planning and strategic processes was perceived to be good, but better access to funding and technical support is needed. Instances remain where there are fundamental differences between government and civil society perceptions of the HIV policy and program environment. How or whether differences were resolved is not always clear, but both government and civil society seemed to appreciate the opportunity for discussion. Collaborative reporting by government and civil society on UNGASS indicators is a small but potentially valuable step in what should be an ongoing and fully institutionalized process of collaborative planning, implementation, monitoring, assessment and correction of HIV responses. The momentum achieved through the UNGASS process should be maintained with follow-up actions to address data gaps, formalize partnerships and enhance active and meaningful engagement.

society is defined in this article as voluntary associations of citizens that undertake actions in support of people living with or affected by HIV; it does not include the private (profit-making) or public (government) sectors. Civil society involvement in national HIV responses has increased since 2005 but there is room for improvement in virtually all countries if civil society participation is to be truly active and meaningful. One indicator is the number of ‘shadow reports’ from civil society groups dissatisfied with the government reporting on progress. This number has declined from 33 countries in 2006 to 15 countries in 2008, and some of the latter reports were simply providing additional information, as opposed to expressing dissenting views. Although UNGASS reporting is an international accountability tool based on the 2001 Declaration of Commitment, the reporting process itself can be a mechanism to increase civil society engagement in the national HIV response and enhance government accountability to its own citizens.