Overview

There is a compelling business case for companies to enter into public-private partnerships that address the challenges posed by fighting HIV/AIDS in resource challenged settings. Along with avoiding economic loss and political destabilization, such partnerships can broaden and diversify a company’s market, create opportunities to be a market leader, provide access to thought leaders, and leverage existing public-private partnerships or collaborations with multinational organizations. However, several challenges to the success of these partnerships exist, including economic instability in targeted countries, the difficulty of identifying the value proposition, a limited knowledge of resource-challenged environments, and the fact that goodwill in the U.S. earned by companies entering into such partnerships is very hard to quantify.

There are a number of ways in which organizations like CCA and its partners work to mitigate these challenges to company involvement; including encouraging transparent business transactions, providing comprehensive data on the business environment in a particular country, providing access to infrastructure and resources already in those countries, giving companies access to global leadership and thought leaders, and publicly acknowledging companies that choose to establish public-private partnerships.

Programs

1. HIV/AIDS Business Coalitions

In 2005, CCA signed a two year contract with The World Bank Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP) for Africa to strengthen the private sector response to HIV/AIDS in coordination with the public sector in four Francophone Africa countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. The private sector mobilization project’s goal is to strengthen private sector engagement in national HIV/AIDS efforts, including enhancing private sector access to available funding. The project provides strategies and technical assistance for developing country-specific frameworks to achieve this goal in each of the four target countries and links these countries to other ongoing private sector initiatives

One of the principal strategies for engaging the private sector is the development of national business coalitions against HIV/AIDS. Business coalitions are intended to facilitate public-private partnerships with key stakeholders such as international donor agencies, foundations, multinational corporations, national companies, private sector organizations including labor unions, employer federations, business council representatives, national AIDS coordinating bodies (NAC) and their private sector focal points, other public sector constituencies and non-governmental organizations representing civil society.

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2. Applied Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Sector and HIV/AIDS

The fundamental challenge in addressing HIV/AIDS and health in general, in Africa, is limited infrastructure and capacity shortages for the delivery of goods and services. Ethiopia, for example, has only 700 trained pharmacists for a population of 75 million. Lack of capacity references issues of human capacity as well as systems or organizational capacity, including communications and information management. ICT partnerships have the potential to ameliorate many of these capacity limitations and help address issues such as improving medical records systems, patient service delivery, enhancing monitoring capability for treatment adherence and many other areas.

The CCA HIV/AIDS Initiative works with ICT sector companies, the U.S. and international donor community, the African public and private sectors, and related infrastructure and health associated industries to create partnerships that will effectively engage the skills, products and expertise represented in the diverse landscape of applied information technologies. We seek, in partnership with our members, to identify and implement innovative solutions to the complex and longstanding barriers to health in Africa.

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Services

CCA assists members in creating comprehensive business plans, including HIV prevention strategies

1. HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy and Program Development

CCA staff assists members in the development HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programs to meet their assessed needs, and then matches the business with the technical assistances providers, at international and national levels, that best fit the requirements. The Initiative also provides access to international donors and technical assistance organizations that can offer on-going support and guidance in the development of HIV/AIDS programs, including prevention education, volunteer counseling and testing (VCT) and access to treatment for employees, their families and community members.

2. Partnership Brokerage and Strategic Linkage

CCA provides access to the following key partners:

  • Public Sector and Civil Society: CCA facilitates dialogue between the private sector, the African public sector, including representatives from Ministries of Health and National AIDS Commissions, and civil society, to ensure a coordinated, multisectoral response to the epidemic that includes the private sector. CCA also supports business in advocating for increased private sector leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS on the national and international level.
  • Private Sector Stakeholders: Through its support of national business coalitions - platforms that enable the private sector to align its strategy with the public sector to address HIV/AIDS in a comprehensive and effective manner – CCA facilitates information sharing between public sector and private sector entities engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including national and international businesses, employer federations, unions and trade associations.
  • Technical Assistance Providers: CCA links businesses - directly or through business coalitions - with technical assistance providers in the field to assist in the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS workplace programs. The CCA HIV/AIDS Initiative has formed partnerships with many technical assistance providers including Constella/Futures Group, Family Health International, Populations Services International, John Snow Incorporated, The Academy for Educational Development and others (see a full list of partners).
  • Donor agencies: One of the roles of international donor organizations/mechanisms such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa (PEPFAR), the World Bank Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP) and The Global Fund, is to provide financing for government, community and private sector-led initiatives focused on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Each donor partner operates in a variety of country settings, has its own eligibility criteria, application process, and monitoring and evaluation requirements. Consequently, CCA works to inform its members of the existing funding opportunities; to facilitate discussions between company and donor; and to provide assistance to members in the application and award process.

Please contact one of the HIV/AIDS staff members for more information on our Partnership Brokerage and Strategic Linkage services.

3. On-demand Research and Project Design

CCA HIV/AIDS Initiative staff provides on-demand research and project design to supply your company with opportunities to work with other private sector entities, governments and/or NGOs to reach your healthy workplace, market expansion or corporate social responsibility objectives. It has been proven that partnerships are an effective way to leverage private sector core competencies, public sector support and NGO resources to help to ensure the health and safety of employees and their families and expand workplace health services to the community. This service is offered to non-members on a fee-for-service basis.

Please contact one of the HIV/AIDS staff members for more information on our On-demand Research and Project Design services.

4. Information Services

In collaboration with HealthAfrica.org, CCA provides access to a comprehensive and interactive database that currently has between 500 and 600 public domain reference and resource documents including toolkits, policy templates, best practices, partner websites, statistical analyses and other information relevant to the private sector response to health in Africa. The content ranges from information on specific company workplace programs, to updated information about HIV/AIDS treatment research, to government and non-profit private sector HIV/AIDS initiatives. The database is searchable by region, sector and topic. A bi-annual newsletter also provides information on private sector HIV/AIDS initiatives in Africa and opportunities to access resources (financial and technical) through CCA partner institutions.

5. Forums and Workshops

CCA regularly convenes forums to inform and shape the private sector approach to health in Africa and to provide venues for private sector leadership in addressing HIV/AIDS. Together with CCA members, local private sector entities, African Ministries of Health, international and local NGOs, and international institutions and donor agencies, CCA convenes forums that highlight country and sector-specific best practices, tools and guides for engaging the private sector around HIV/AIDS; encourage public-private coordination around HIV/AIDS on a national level by creating a meaningful dialogue between the private sector and government officials; and provide access to financial and technical assistance in developing and implementing private sector HIV/AIDS initiatives.

Recent CCA organized forums/meetings include:

Please refer to the CCA HIV/AIDS Initiative Events Page for more details on upcoming meetings, workshops and forums.


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CCA's HIV/AIDS Initiative
 


1100 17th Street, N.W., Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 835-1115 Fax: (202) 835-1117 E-mail: cca@africacncl.org