SHARe II Quarterly Report: April 1, 2012 – June 30, 2012

The project is implemented by John Snow Inc. and is funded by USAID/Zambia. The project's purpose is to support the Government of Zambia in its efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The project's vision is to have a strong and effective national response to HIV/AIDS, with leadership involvement and policy and regulatory environments that support the response. The project's mission is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Zambia and its partners to coordinate and implement effective HIV/AIDS programs. The project's goal is to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS in Zambia. The project's objectives are to strengthen and expand leadership involvement in HIV/AIDS, improve the policy and regulatory environment, and strengthen organizational and technical capacity of coordinating structures. During the quarter, the project undertook several activities to achieve its objectives. Under Objective 1, the project strengthened and expanded leadership involvement in HIV/AIDS through the development of a HIV/AIDS leadership training manual, support to local NGO-partners, and HIV/AIDS leadership support to traditional leaders, members of parliament, religious leaders, and influential opinion-leaders. The project also improved the policy and regulatory environment through the revision of the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Policy of 2005, formulation of the National Alcohol Policy, and formulation of the National HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy. Additionally, the project provided technical support towards improving the capacity of the judiciary and law enforcement to appropriately manage HIV-related cases. Under Objective 2, the project strengthened the capacity of the National AIDS Council (NAC) to coordinate the national response through support to NAC in the training of trainers on the District Coordination Toolkit. The project also strengthened the capacities of Provincial AIDS Task Forces (PATFs) and District AIDS Task Forces (DATFs) to coordinate the provincial and district level response through support to DATF strategic and operation planning processes. Under Objective 3, the project strengthened and expanded workplace HIV/AIDS programs through the implementation of the SHARe II HIV/AIDS Workplace Programs Core Package. The project expanded and replicated efforts in the private sector, including small, medium, and large-scale businesses, and the informal sector, through private sector HIV/AIDS leadership support and the tourism HIV/AIDS public-private partnership. The project also expanded and replicated efforts in the public sector, including continued support and expansion to additional line ministries, through public sector HIV/AIDS leadership support and government reform of public sector line ministries. The project trained peer educators for the public sector and supported workplace HIV/AIDS programs in various ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communications, and Ministry of Home Affairs. Overall, the SHARe II Project in Zambia made significant progress during the quarter in achieving its objectives and contributing to the national response to HIV/AIDS.