IV. Next step: towards the response analysis

Situation analyses are not ends in themselves. The situation analysis report is an essential document for analysing the response and formulating the national strategic plan (see Modules 2 and 3). The situation analysis and response analysis are, to an extent, inseparable activities, since the background situation shaping the HIV epidemic will have been influenced by the past response (or lack of response), while current programmes and initiatives will be a response to an existing cultural, social, and economic situation. The team analysing the response will take as a starting point the vulnerable groups and structural issues identified in the situation analysis as key to the epidemic, and investigate the extent to which the response has met or may meet priority needs in those areas. It will assess whether initiatives have considered the obstacles defined in the situation analysis, and will look at how they have tried to exploit the opportunities identified.