Effective Mainstreaming of HIV

We advocate for an environment that supports effective mainstreaming of HIV.

It is critical that global resource mobilisation for the HIV response provides additional resources, and that resources are not merely shifted from development work to HIV programming or vice versa. Resources for sustainable development initiatives need to be expanded in order to support mainstreaming of HIV, just as additional resources are required for HIV programming. To bring this about, we need to contribute to creating an environment where there is a common understanding about what mainstreaming HIV means and how it can best be achieved.

Given that mainstreaming HIV is evolving and evidence of its effectiveness is still limited, it is often difficult to mobilise different sectors to mainstream HIV within their core business or raise additional resources to support mainstreaming. However, there are also factors that give impetus to advocating for the need for mainstreaming HIV, including:

  • a growing recognition that HIV work alone does not address the underlying causes of vulnerability to HIV and its effects
  • the fact that in countries worst affected the impacts of HIV are impossible to ignore, and
  • recognition that mainstreaming HIV draws on the existing expertise and capacity of different sectors that can and should be applied to addressing HIV and its impacts through their core business.

We can contribute to creating and sustaining an environment that supports mainstreaming HIV by:

  • learning by doing, sharing experiences and improving capacity to monitor and evaluate mainstreaming initiatives
  • conducting, participating in and/or advocating for research to improve understanding about what is effective
  • advocating for governments and private and public sector agencies to mainstream HIV within their core business
  • advocating for mainstreaming within the HIV, humanitarian and development sectors
  • advocating for transparency in resource allocation to ensure additional resources are provided for mainstreaming of HIV and for specific HIV programming, and
  • advocating for inclusion of mainstreaming HIV within strategic national AIDS frameworks.