An NRI report "Facing the Challenge: NGO Experiences of Mitigating the Impacts of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa" has been published on-line. The report, edited by NRI Associate Joanna White, presents nine case studies of NGO initiatives in the region (five in Uganda, two in Tanzania, one in Zimbabwe and one in Lesotho) and gives an overview of their significance.
Since the late 1980s, the presence of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased, and its effects on adults in their prime years and on their dependants has become ever more evident. It has been estimated that 3.5 million new infections occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2001, bringing the total number of people infected in this region to 28.5 million.
Most donor funding in response to the epidemic has been focused on preventive and curative health programmes and on behaviour change. Less attention has been paid to the social and economic impacts, in spite of the known relationship between HIV/AIDS, poverty and vulnerability. Many of these impacts have long-term, even irreversible, effects on local livelihood systems.
AIDS-affected communities and NGOs have been responding to such impacts with innovative local projects to tackle the devastating effects on families and communities. However, these projects have not been widely reported. NRI therefore conducted a series of structured case studies of nine such projects in order to facilitate exchange of information between development practitioners, and to draw out and share lessons for the future. As well as describing these case studies, the report identifies 'best practice' future interventions, suggests potential procedures for the replication of successful approaches, and recommends greater sharing of information and experience between practitioners and between countries.
A copy of the report in PDF format (219kb) can be downloaded here.
New Publication on Performance and Impact
NRI has published a new book: 'Institutionalizing Impact Orientation' (publication details). The book, by NRI staff experienced in monitoring and evaluation, documents the process, results and lessons from a project that introduced performance management concepts, and built performance management capacity, in a group of agricultural research organizations (more about NRI's work on Performance and Impact).