Key local HIV/ AIDS decision-makers and communities came to Dar es Salaam to continue the important process of improving governance in the district and community HIV/AIDS response. The process was started in October 2007 and has already demonstrated significant results. The program focuses on improving information flow, transparency, and accountability leading to more efficient and effective HIV/AIDS services. The program is being carried out with support from a collaborative effort of the World Bank, the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS), the Prime Minister's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG), and the Global Fund. This partnership is a pioneering one and shows that when these organizations work together, they provide complementary experiences and efforts.  | Community participants during a workshop working group session |
In Dar es Salaam, local government officials, districts, communities, and people living with HIV/AIDS worked together for the first time to incorporate selected governance tools into their budget planning. Such incorporation helps to ensure that funding will be available to implement programs, monitor their implementation, gather relevant data and information, while also ensuring transparency and accountability. As a result, the budget planning now includes a governance dimension, which will ensure a governance focus in the local HIV/AIDS response in the years to come. Another results is that the districts and the local communities finalized their action plans to improve the governance dimension. The selected tools include public board notes and social mobilization strategies; participatory planning; the Community Planning Tool Against AIDS (COPTA); brochures; HIV/AIDS messages via radio; simplified procedures for appraisal, approval, and funding; public meetings; monitoring and evaluation; and reporting. The communities will carry out baseline surveys to measure gaps, challenges, and the impact of the governance tools in improving the HIV/AIDS response.  | Presentation on indicators during the videoconference with World Bank headquarter in Washington DC and the Global Fund in Geneva. |
These tools help prevent corruption, and ensure that the funds are well-spent. The local stakeholder cooperation, for example, has brought a "governance focus", marked by an emphasis on consultation and accountability., to the new budget planning template. This governance focus is expected to improve local level policy and program responses to HIV/AIDS in the coming fiscal year and for many years thereafter. The anticipated outcome of the Governance Capacity Enhancement Program is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the funds being used for HIV/AIDS, resulting in better HIV/AIDS services and essentially saving lives. The programs's success to date has already spurred efforts to extend the initiative to other regions of Tanzania as well as to neighboring countries. This groundbreaking partnership shows that organizations, government, and local stakeholders working together draw on complementary experiences that leads to improved information flow, transparency, accountability and quality of information to guide the district and community HIV/AIDS response. For further information please contact Maria Gonzalez de Asis, Manager of the Program or Troels Egeskov Sorensen, Consultant. Related Links Article on the first workshop (October 2007): "Strong Community Governance Systems Required in Tanzania HIV/AIDS Response" YouTube video from the first workshop (October 2007) Materials from the first workshop (October 2007) and the second workshop (January 2008) on Good Governance and HIV/AIDS WBI's Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Program World Bank Units Involved: WBIHD, ACTafrica, HDNGA, AFTU1, HDNHE, INT |
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