Involvement of PLHIV and Affected Communities
We foster active and meaningful involvement of PLHIV and affected communities in our work.
PLHIV and affected communities need to be involved in a variety of roles at different levels in NGOs, including as decision-makers on governing boards; as managers, programmers, providers and participants in the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes and services; as decision-makers, advocates and campaigners in policy and advocacy; and as planners, speakers and participants in meetings, conferences and other forums.
In fostering meaningful involvement of PLHIV and affected communities within our own organisations and in partnerships with organisations and networks of PLHIV and affected communities, we need to:
- create an organisational environment that fosters non-discrimination and values the contribution of PLHIV and affected communities
- recognise and foster involvement of the diverse range of PLHIV and affected communities
- ensure involvement in a variety of roles at different levels within our organisations
- define roles and their associated responsibilities; assess what a particular role requires, and the capacity of individuals to fulfil the role; and provide the necessary organisational support, including financial
- ensure organisational policies and practice provide timely access to information to enable participation, preparation and input, before programmatic and policy decisions are made
- ensure workplace policies and practices recognise the health and related needs of PLHIV and affected communities and create an enabling environment that supports their involvement
- ensure, when seeking PLHIV and affected community representatives, that PLHIV and affected community organisations and networks have strategies for accountability to their members and processes for ensuring that the views put forward represent their members
- resource and support capacity-building within PLHIV and affected community organisations and networks, and
- fund and/or advocate for funding of PLHIV and affected community organisations to ensure they have the resources to build capacity and empower others within their own networks.