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As
the HIV and AIDS pandemic continues, a great number of governmental
and non-governmental initiatives have arisen to address the crisis.
However, it has been a feature of these responses that programmes
and agencies tend to work in isolation from one
another, leading to duplication and confusion at community level.
Yelula/U-khâi has made it a priority to address the risks
of duplication and fracturing of efforts, in particular
through support for information and exchange forums and
activities.
These activities attempt to build collaborative effort at district
and regional level between CBOs, NGOs, and government.
Initiatives focus on the provision of technical assistance and coordinating
the effort of the various actors.
In building a civil society response to HIV and AIDS,
it is particularly important to enhance the efficacy of the civil
society/government relationship. This has been addressed through
support to CBOs/NGOs along with support for the
formal HIV and AIDS coordinating Yelula/U-khâi
has bolstered the civil society/government relationship through
the provision of resources for practical costs of meetings, and
assistance in planning and implementation of activities.
Home
Based Care Forum
Yelula/U-khâi coordinates a home based care forum across the
four northern regions of Namibia four times a year. This is an opportunity
for all HBC groups to share learnings around reporting,
training, kits, and supervision, and to map areas of work
and share challenges.
Treatment literacy forums
Treatment literacy forums are growing in popularity. They are attended not only by support group members but also by some of their partners living positively and on some occasions forums were attended by grandmothers taking care of orphans on ARVs. This activity works through and in conjunction with CACOCs, and is closely linked to the Ibis Treatment Literacy Programme. During the forums information concerning ARVs, healthy lifestyle and new trends concerning HIV treatment is provided to the participants, as well as information on STIs and TB and their relation to HIV. The forums are usually facilitated by doctors and/or pharmacists.
Annual Conference
Yelula/U-khâi holds an annual conference for community members
infected or affected by HIV and AIDS. The aim of the annual conference
is to establish networks and share information
about HIV and AIDS, and to inform people about different possibilities
for accessing help and support.
Conference reports are available to download on our ‘resources’
page.
Support
for Regional HIV and AIDS co-ordinating structures (RACOCS)
Yelula/U-khâi’s approach uses and supports existing
government structures. Yelula/U-khâi’s work
with RACOCs links the 5 regions within which it works for learning
and sharing, provides financial support to pilot the development
of CACOCs (Constituency AIDS coordinating committees),
and provides financial support to filter learnings to other CBOs
in their regions. CACOC’s increasingly provide oversight and
support to community level projects in their constituencies
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