Global Summit on HIV/AIDS and Capacity Building Winds Up in D.C.

One of the largest gatherings of its kind assesses global HIV/AIDS effort in the future

On November 17-18, Pact and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) held a global summit for HIV/AIDS capacity building implementers at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The gathering was one of the largest of its kind, bringing together experts from the government, representatives of capacity building institutions, and field implementers from around the world. More than 40 Organizations and 8 Pact Field offices were represented, carrying out vital HIV/AIDS programming in 18 countries.

“Capacity building is empowering local actors to take the lead in their own development,” said Polly Mott, director of the Community REACH program. “It has become a critical function of the global response to HIV/AIDS and is essential at the national, local and community levels. In the HIV/AIDS sector, building skills and knowledge at the local level has been critical in allowing national and global responses to match the scale needed for such a pervasive issue as HIV/AIDS. This summit is a tremendous opportunity for these practitioners to share and grow to improve their service delivery around the world. ”

The summit was part of the Community REACH program – a nine-year global USAID program funded through the Global Bureau for Health’s Office of HIV/AIDS. The program facilitates the rapid award of grant funds for organizations to increase access to services for those most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. Since 2001, the Community REACH programs have awarded over 400 grants to partners combating HIV/AIDS. As a result of our partnerships, more than six million individuals have received prevention services, eight million condoms have been distributed, and approximately 800,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable children have benefited from care and support. A quarter million people received HIV counseling and testing and more than 60,000 people living with HIV/AIDS began anti-retroviral therapy.

“There are so many . . . people that are effected [by HIV/AIDS] where do we start? We all really need to focus on what is that area where we can make a difference, because if we’re making that difference . . . probably that will even impact others, like ripple effects,” said Joyce Mataya, executive director of Cabungo, a local Malawi NGO and summit attendee. “So, it is helpful to share some of our experiences, because we have worked with so many organizations and wanted to share those success stories. We also learn from others in terms of what are some of those efforts around capacity building in HIV/AIDS that are happening around the world.”

Summit participants focused on reaching a consensus on the future vision of capacity building for HIV/AIDS programs and the best approaches to successfully collaborate to realize that vision.

“I’m excited to see where the HIV/AIDS effort goes from here and to really move it forward,” said Pamela Wyville-Staples (Cognizant Technical Officer, Community REACH Senior Health Development Officer, USAID), about the end of the nine-year Community REACH project and what’s on the horizon for HIV/AIDS capacity building.

Many of the summit attendees plan to issue a joint statement on the eve of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2009.

Read the press release.

• For the HIV/AIDS Sector Capacity Building Survey results, please click here.
• To view the presentations which were presented at the summit, please click here.
• For the posters presented at the marketplace, please click here.