This study describes the work of the Choose to Care initiative of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa. It shows that effective scaling up of programmes in the response to HIV, and work towards making Universal Access a reality, does not necessarily have to be the expansion of a single central service. Through the Choose to Care initiative the Church scaled up service provision by the replication of smaller scale programmes rooted in and responsive to their immediate communities’ needs. The study shows that such an approach is effective when undertaken within common guidelines and given central support.

Sex between men occurs in every culture and society,
though its extent and public acknowledgement vary
from place to place. In terms of HIV, sex between
men is significant because it can involve anal sex, which
when unprotected carries a very high risk. At least
5–10% of HIV infections worldwide are estimated to
occur through sex between men, though this figure
varies considerably between countries and regions.

This study describes the work of the Choose to Care initiative of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa which began in 2000. It shows that effective scaling-up of programmes in the response to HIV does not necessarily have to be the expansion of a single central service. Working through the diocesan and parish system, coordinated by the AIDS Office Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and originally funded by the Catholic Mission Medical Board and other Catholic funding agencies, the Catholic Church scaled up service provision by the replication of smaller scale programmes rooted in and responsive to the needs expressed by local communities in this five-country area. This study shows that such an approach is effective when undertaken within common guidelines and given central support.

In 2003 UNHCR, WFP, and UNICEF launched a joint effort to develop, through multi-site field research in refugee communities in Africa, a set of strategies for using food and nutrition-based interventions to support HIV transmission prevention, impact mitigation, and care, treatment, and support for people living with HIV. This important collaborative initiative grew out of the recognition that refugee settings are unique. It was recognized also that specific research is required conducted among and with refugees. This Best Practice document discusses the research process and findings of this interagency initiative.

The Policy Brief recommends actions that governments and their international and civil society partners must take to respond to HIV in the context of refugees. The policy also offers best practice examples and first-person accounts from policy makers who have taken exemplary actions in this area. It builds on the commitments made by States as part of the 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS, the International Human Rights Law and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, wherein States parties committed to providing refugees with the same “public relief and assistance” as their nationals, including medical care.

This publication reviews the country- level work of UNAIDS in 2005 and early 2006 within the context of regional and global efforts to move towards universal access. During this period, UNAIDS focused its country support work on two main areas. The first was improving the architecture of the AIDS response in the face of increasing complexity, growing resources and the involvement of new actors. The second priority of country work was securing political commitment to a dramatic expansion of services for prevention, treatment, care and support. Based on this period this report discusses the major centres of work and illustrates them through examples from specific countries. Brief descriptions are also provided for the work of each of the ten Cosponsors of UNAIDS.

The Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO) of UNAIDS approved a Learning Strategy adopted in 2003 to help UN system staff develop competence on AIDS issues. This report is comprised of UN AIDS Learning Strategy case studies from sixteen countries: Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, India, Indonesia, Macedonia, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, the Pan American Health Organization headquarters (United States), Pakistan, Paraguay, Vienna (Austria), Viet Nam, and Yemen. It presents each country’s unique experience in implementing the strategy since its adoption.

The National AIDS Councils: Monitoring and Evaluation Operations Manual is designed as a practical toolkit and road map for practitioners to use in designing and implementing programme monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The manual introduces key concepts; presents simple, clear procedures, with a checklist of the process, timing and costs of building participatory programme M&E for National AIDS Councils (NACs); and offers key tools that implementing partners need for M&E. The manual emphasizes the development of the overall M&E system, in relation to the National Strategic Plan, and the monitoring of services provided through NACs and their implementing partners.

This report is the result of an independent review jointly commissioned by UNAIDS and UNDP of the experiences of mainstreaming AIDS in national development instruments, and technical support provided to national partners in this area. The main national development instruments considered in this report are Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), and to a lesser extent, national development plans.The review was carried out by the HLSP Institute between November 2004 and June 2005 and is also available on CD Rom.

These Practical Guidelines for Intensifying HIV Prevention: Towards Universal Access are designed to provide policy makers and planners with practical guidance to tailor their national HIV prevention response so that they respond to the epidemiological scenario of the country and populations who remain most vulnerable to and at risk of HIV infection.