Civil society
Analyzing civil society participation in country-level HIV/AIDS UNGASS 2006 reviews
Making civil society participation meaningful
Authors:
K. Kalla
Publisher:
CARE International, 2006
This report, published by CARE International, explores civil society experiences and lessons learned in the country-level review processes of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS. It draws on surveys conducted in Cambodia, Kenya, Malawi, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Civil society interviewees reported that they did not fully participate in the process, and that in most cases this was due to the limited capacity, staffing and funding of the review process. Other problems included that: stigma and discrimination acted as a barrier to participation; monitoring and evaluation was weak; and the relevance of UNGASS was not clear to some participants.
The report discusses a number of recommendations provided by government and civil society respondents on how to improve the management of UNGASS reviews. These included: building the capacity of government and civil society so the review process could be institutionalised; the need for education about the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS; involving civil society organisations earlier and more consistently; the need for continued political commitment and leadership; a harmonised approach to monitoring, evaluating and reporting; and using tools that already exist to engage with civil society organisations, and especially people living with HIV and AIDS.
