Foreword
by Noerine Kaleeba
Community
Mobilization Advisor
Department of Policy, Strategy and
Research
UNAIDS, Geneva
There is increasing understanding about what works in HIV
prevention, but that understanding also comes with the realization that, like
all other efforts towards changing human behaviour, HIV prevention programmes
may not be effective in influencing behaviour under all circumstances, or for
everyone, or forever. What seems to emerge as a consistent feature of HIV
prevention programmes that work is the involvement and active participation of
community members or community groups.
Community level action, much of it initiated by persons infected
with or affected by HIV, has played a major role in the global response to AIDS.
In many countries, community response came before official governmental
responses and has proved to be essential to many components of a successful
national response, most notably raising awareness, assisting with risk
assessment, and supporting policy and legal changes, impact alleviation,
advocacy, as well as family and community care and support. Communities,
however, are not closed, self-sustaining systems; the ability of a community, no
matter how well organized and motivated, is limited. It is not surprising,
therefore, that in those countries where there has been successful partnerships
between official government and community efforts, HIV prevention programmes
have worked to a large extent.
Although we must continue to gather information, test and refine
our understanding of what works, UNAIDS believes that the timely sharing of
information on what seems to be working well is essential. The publication of
the four case studies of Australia, Canada, Thailand and Uganda, which were
presented at an official satellite symposium of the XIth
International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver in 1996, is one first step
by UNAIDS in this
direction.
