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 | Africa 
Africa
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 An estimated 70 percent of all the people living with HIV/AIDS are in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is in southern Africa that the proportions of the crisis are the worst. As of 2005, six countries had adult HIV rates exceeding 20 percent: Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland. |
In Africa, the message of IFC Against AIDS is primarily one of risk management (given the extent of the impact of AIDS on corporate costs, but also the impact it has on the viability of small enterprises). The purpose of IFC’s engagement on HIV/AIDS in Africa is to enhance the capacity of IFC client companies and other related constituencies to address HIV/AIDS as an operational risk and improve the quality of their response to the threat that HIV/AIDS poses to their businesses and communities. The program places strong importance on equipping client companies with skills, tools and support to develop, implement and manage effective HIV/AIDS programs within their workplaces and surrounding communities where feasible.
Guidance
Through one-on-one interface with clients, we assess conditions for HIV/AIDS workplace and community programs that will limit the number of new HIV infections, mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on operations, and manage existing HIV infections among staff and communities.
Our client engagement includes one preparation phase (Pre-engagement) and three programmatic phases: 1) Foundations of an HIV/AIDS Workplace Program, 2) Program Implementation and Partnering, and 3) Sustainability and Maintenance. Our guidance work is therefore one of risk management that requires systematic hands-on capacity building within the client company, and within the NGO community. See our client engagement process.
Training
In Africa where the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector accounts for most of a country’s private sector, IFC Against AIDS has developed a training program targeting SMEs in order to build their capacity to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on their businesses. The training program has the same risk management objectives as the guidance work, but it focuses on SMEs (training being a better delivery model with this group). We are now seeking the expansion of this pilot program through a pan-African PEP Africa project: “Managing HIV/AIDS in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises”. The project has two objectives: 1) proactive management of HIV/AIDS as an operational risk, and 2) prevention and care for the employees and communities of those enterprises. In addition, under the training banner, we include the training of NGOs and service providers, the AIDS committees of our clients, and the facilitators that will become involved in the PEP Africa project. See a brief presentation on our training (PPT). For more information on the IFC Against AIDS training visit the training page. |
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