THE IPAA AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR

A Private Sector Strategy for the IPAA
The International Part-nership against AIDS in Africa (IPAA) advocates intensified and coordinated action against AIDS. The private sector strategy presented in this document fits within the IPAA, and has as a principle audience businesses and worker orga-nizations. For these organizations, it outlines basic steps which can be taken to join the fight against AIDS. Secondly, it aims to serve as an advocacy tool which can be used by any actor sub-scribing to the principles set out in the IPAA, be it govern-ment, UN or NGO, to encou-rage business and workers organizations to increase their efforts.

The IPAA: A joint strategy to fight AIDS in Africa
The IPAA is a group of actors —African governments, bilateral donors, community sector organizations, the UN family and the private sector— who have a common vision of how to combat AIDS in Africa. The IPAA is essentially a strategy for how all stakeholders, under Govern-ment leadership, can organize an effective response to AIDS. This strategy calls for:

• The creation of high-level political organs to drive the struggle against AIDS;
• The formulation and implementation of National Strategic Plans in a participatory manner, involving donors, NGOs and other actors from the private sector and civil society;
• Increased political and financial commitment from all actors;
• Moving towards decentralized programmes;
• Equitable access to care and the full involvement of people living with AIDS; and
• Constantly expanding invol-vement from all groups in society, such as the private sector.

IPAA objectives
This strategy aims to achieve four objectives:

• a scaled-up response: enhanced, accelerated and sustained political, societal and financial commitment of all constituencies;

• a coordinated response: strong coordination mechanisms and highlevel govern-ment leadership in the framework of a commonly agreed action plan;

• an efficient response: efficient and effective use of human, institutional and financial resources to imple-ment national responses (NSP or equivalent);

• a supported response: effective cooperation mechanisms exist to provide access to high quality institutional and technical support and to share strategic information.

UNAIDS as Secretariat to the IPAA
UNAIDS acts as the Secretariat to the IPAA. The ILO — as one of the eight co-sponsors comprising UNAIDS — will take the lead role in acting as a Secretariat to the IPAA for the private sector strategy. The IPAA is a strategy for advocacy and is not a project or a pro-gramme per se; it does not have a budget. UNAIDS and UNAIDS co-sponsors undertakes advocacy and information exchange activities, however, in their role as secretariat to the IPAA.

Bringing the private sector to the struggle
The definition of the ‘private sector’ as one of the five stakeholder groups in the IPAA recognizes its potential role in the struggle against AIDS in the IPAA. The role of the private sector in development issues more generally has also been highlighted, as for example through the UN Secretary General’s establishment of the Global Compact. To date, however, the full potential of a private sector contribution to fighting AIDS in Africa has not been realized.

UNGASS recognition of private sector role
Confronting this continuing challenge, at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS in June, 2001, the nations of the world declared their commitment to having national strategic plans prepared by 2003 which involved partnerships with the private sector. The Declaration consistently highlights the role of the private sector at the national and global levels in planning, care and prevention as well as for resource mobilization.
Strengths of the private sector to fight AIDS
Actors in the private sector have many ways to contribute. Enterprises and unions have a primary interest in the health of their workers, and are well-placed to reach out to their families and communities. Private sector actors have an opportunity to use straightforward language to address directly the problem of AIDS and act quickly. The objective being total social mobilization, private sector actors have the strengths of having a captive audience (their workers) and an important role in social dialogue. And the private sector has resources, much more resources than does the public sector.

Why businesses must respond
As stated by William H. Roedy, President of MTV, businesses must respond to AIDS because “AIDS affects business. As AIDS has spread, costs to business have risen, both in terms of people and resources.” Having a stake in the society in which they thrive, the same society which comprises their market and labor force, businesses have an interest in helping fight AIDS. An increasing move-ment of corporate respon-sibility further motivates businesses to respond. Increa-singly, customers expect businesses to contribute to the well-being of society, and pay attention to private sector efforts.

Efforts to build upon
Across Africa, individual businesses are making a difference. In their own communities or countries —and in a few cases across the continent— leading com-panies have studied and implemented programmes to respond to AIDS. In a more limited number of cases, busi-nesses have come together —on their own, with the assistance of the UN or other partners, or through existing organizations such as em-ployers federations— to forge a common approach. Some NGOs have specialized in helping companies develop and implement policies to respond to AIDS in the workplace. Every one of these initiatives makes a difference.

The need for a strategy to multiply efforts
Despite this range of initiatives, the vast potential for a private sector contribution remains untapped. One constraint is that so far there are few structures for information sharing, coordination and lateral learning. There is not enough basic advocacy. Not enough plans are drawn up for private sector action, and the private sector is not involved enough in national planning. Govern-ment guidance to business is lacking, and there needs to be more mobilization from workers and employers orga-nisations. UNAIDS offices themselves have not so far had access to basic tools to help them prompt increased private sector involvement, nor are they able consistently to reply to queries. Businesses are involved in only a handful of expanded UN Theme Groups, and unions in even less. While there is a general sense that private sector involvement is necessary, there is no strategy for advocacy and the provision of support in a systematic fashion.

AN OVERVIEW OF EXISTING INITIATlVES

The ILO
The ILO set up a pro-gramme for HIV/AIDS in the world of work in November, 2000, and have recently become UNAIDS eighth ‘co-sponsor’. They have recently developed a Code of Practice for AIDS in the world of work, which results from negotiations between businesses, workers and governments. The Code provides a useful reference document for legislators, governments, businesses, unions, and NGOs. The ILO uses the label ‘the world of work’ to present an inclusive image of business, govern-ment and labour. It will develop training materials to encourage and support the widespread use of the Code. One of the strengths that ILO brings to UNAIDS is its history of work and relationships with the private sector. While on the one hand unions provide an obvious entry-point for dealing with labor, on the business side the ILO has worked closely with employers’ federations as the logical body for discussing workplace policy issues with businesses in groups.

UNAIDS:
The global Private Sector Initiative
In close collaboration with the Global Business Council (GBC), UNAIDS will be encouraging an increased response on the part of international business around the world. An advisory group of businesspersons has also been established to counsel the UN Secretary General on the involvement of busi-nesses in AIDS.

UNAIDS:
Helping businesses come together in Africa
In many countries, UNAIDS has assisted busi-nesses which have expressed an interest in coming together to develop a unified approach to AIDS. In many cases, this has taken the form of sup-porting the development of a business council on AIDS, but UNAIDS has worked with chambers of commerce and employers’ federations as well (see below). UNAIDS has also worked with unions, suppor-ting efforts to educate their workforce and improve pre-vention and care programmes.

UNAIDS:
Promoting private sector investment
In close collaboration with the World Economic Forum, UNAIDS has deve-loped a pilot activity entitled “menu of investment options”. The idea is to develop a marketing product —an integrated folder and brochure accompanied by an on-line site for further information— which can help sell to foundations and corporate philanthropists the idea that they should be investing in the struggle against AIDS in Africa. Such menus will be developed around global themes, such as the pre-vention of mother-to-child transmission as well as for specific countries.
In Africa, a pilot menu has been created for Zambia, which highlights concrete activities and details their costs, to reinforce the notion that successful means exist to fight AIDS for a variety of levels of investment. Such menus will be created for other selected countries soon.

Activities of other UN agencies
In addition to the ILO, some co-sponsors have also been recently exploring how best to engage the private sector with regards to HIV/ AIDS. UNDP has recently expressed interest and the World Bank has had tenta-tive discussions with the International Business Leaders’ Forum (IBLF). Both UNICEF and WHO are developing significant experience with public-private partnerships.1 The United Nations Industrial Development Orga-nisation (UNIDO), which works with governments and industry organizations to assist policy development and encourage investment, has also recently joined the struggle against AIDS. They aim to mainstream AIDS into all of their activities. The UN staff college also has a public private partnership training programme. Co-ordination among UN bodies on public-private partnership issues, however, could be greatly improved.

International business organizations and NGOs
The Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS (GBC) has recently appointed a new President, Richard Holbrooke, and aims to engage business leaders around the world to fight AIDS. As noted earlier, the GBC is a close partner of UNAIDS. Principal mechanisms will include the orga-nization of major events and the development of publications focused on convincing CEOs of the need to respond to HIV/AIDS .
The GBC is also working with Futures Group/Europe to develop a web-based tool which companies could use to estimate the financial and human resource costs of HIV/AIDS on their business.
Concern about corporate citizenship is growing around the world with regards to business involvement in many issues, not just AIDS.

The International Busi-ness Leaders Forum is an NGO based in London which aims to encourage businesses to increase their social res-ponsibility and with whom UNAIDS has worked in the past to produce the document The Business Response to HIV/AIDS. The IBLF is also aiming to organize a review meeting on coordination issues about working with the private sector, in collaboration with the World Bank Institute. Other groups are being formed in response to this growing field such as the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship.

National Business Councils...
Business councils and coalitions have been esta-blished in a number of African countries, mostly in anglophone east and southern Africa, as a means to access business-people collectively.2 Some have been established by indi-vidual businesses taking the lead (Unilever in Kenya and, to some extent, Tanzania); others with the support of UNAIDS (Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda); others still through non-governmental initia-tives (South Africa).

...as NGOs...
A much-talked of model for business councils comes from Thailand, where the business coalition is an NGO which aims firstly to convince businesses to act, and secondly — assuming that their lobbying was successful — to provide those businesses with helpful services. While the coalition is supported largely by Thai and multinational businesses (though it also charges a fee for certain services), it is not comprised itself of business-people. While the Thai experience provides an informative model, it is not clear to what extent business communities in other countries will be able to support the establishment and func-tioning of local NGOs focused principally on business.

…and as groups of businesses
A different approach brings together business people themselves into a council. In this case, advocacy emerges from businesses who are interested in developing a common public “line” against AIDS, or who are interested in influencing other businesses or actors with regards to AIDS. Such a council provides an excellent forum for providing information and facilitates businesses taking a public stand against AIDS. However, it is less likely that such a council will provide businesses with the services they need (i.e. how to develop an AIDS programme). Such councils do not usually involve workers’ organisations.

Employers Federations and Chambers of Commerce
Of course, even if they are not organized into councils on AIDS, many companies already belong to business organizations of one kind or another. Such existing organizations may provide an alternative forum for accessing businesses and providing information and assistance. Illustrative examples include: in Nigeria, the ILO is working with the Federation of Employers to do AIDS awareness training; in Durban, South Africa, the Chamber of Commerce is very active; and in Ghana, USAID/FHI have been working with the Private Enterprise Foundation, an umbrella group of Ghanaian businesses. Where possible, strengthening the activities of these organizations may be more effec-tive and sustainable than urging the creation of new business councils on AIDS. One weakness of working with existing organizations, however, is that in some cases they will not be able to provide consistent, sustained leadership on AIDS, being mandated to cover many other issues. Advocates and development partners will have to judge, on a case by case, the best mix of country-level strategies.

Regional union organizations have broad reach
The Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) has a plan of action, developed principally during a conference supported by UNAIDS in Accra. They have ‘mainstreamed’ AIDS by inserting an AIDS element into standard training curriculum. For example, an Appendix to the African Charter on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) deals specifically with HIV/ AIDS, and has been discussed in nearly 30 OHS trainings since the mid 1990s. In October, OATUU jointly organized with the ILO a regional meeting in Algiers to discuss how to implement the ILO code. They produced a review of workplace pro-grammes in Eastern and Southern Africa with UNAIDS assistance. The OATUU proposal principally consists of training union educators across Africa. Finally, OATUU has developed a larger pro-posal to train union educators across Africa.
The Africa Regional office of the International Con-federation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU/ AFRO) has also joined the fight and is mainstreaming HIV/AIDS activities into their work. The ICFTU/AFRO aims to not only carry out training acti-vities, but establish worker-run health clinics to ensure independence. As one of the largest union federations, ICFTU/AFRO has the potential to reach tens of thousands of workers across Africa.

Global trade secretariats can tap industry-specific networks
In addition to belonging to regional or international federations of workers’ orga-nizations such as OATUU or the ICFTU, many unions also belong to international trade secretariats, which are centered around specific industries. Some of these global trade secretariats are also involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The International Transport Federation (ITF) for example is, working with UNAIDS in Uganda to support some transport union activities.

Donor and NGO activities
Some bilateral donors and international NGOs have also gathered considerable expertise on how to involve businesses. In 1996, FHI developed “Businesses Managing AIDS: A Guide for Managers”, with support from USAID. This manual is currently being revised. Other donors, such as GTZ, have been involved in working with multi-national businesses like Daimler-Chrysler and Heineken in Africa, helping them to develop workplace policies. The US Department of Labor has recently made a contri-bution of approximately $9 million for work globally with unions and employers on AIDS.

The Informal Sector
Workers in informal settings, by definition, do not have workplaces characterized by formal ownerworker relations, nor are they as integrated into the broader formal economy. Therefore some aspects of this IPAA private sector strategy —which focuses on formal businesses and worker orga-nizations in the belief that they comprise a distinct set of actors in society— may not apply. Nevertheless the lines between formal and informal are not always clear (such as through sub-contracting), and many “formal” organizations are reaching out to informal workers, including trade associations and the ILO. Consequently, while this strategy will remain focused on the formal sector, as many elements as possible should be applied by organizations fighting AIDS at the country level to extend its application to the informal sector.

Individual actions across Africa
Most importantly, there are hundreds of individual companies and NGOs across Africa working on AIDS in the workplace. In southern Africa, mining companies have been amongst the first to deal with the disease. Publicly owned companies, such as Eskom, have also been industry leaders. But other companies around the continent have experimented with programmes, both for prevention and treatment. Others have been leaders in organizing the business community, such as Unilever. NGOs have learned how to respond to companies interested in learning about AIDS by designing curricula and implementing training programmes. Unions have mobilized their vast networks, such as Cosatu in South Africa, to educate their workforce and place AIDS on the agenda for dialogue. Some consulting firms are doing private commercial assessments of the impact of AIDS on companies. In other countries, impact analyses have been carried out for the business sector. Some of these efforts have been collected and documented in a few publications, but they are not currently catalogued in a useful or accessible way.