1 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Stronger health systems. Greater health impact. Capacity Building a Namibian HIV and AIDS Network Organization to Better Understand its Constituency Roselyn Kareithi, Eleanor Hazell, Anddy Omoluabi, Claire Jones, Melissa Jones, Rachel Basirika, and Sandie Tjaronda The Second HIV Capacity Building Partners’ Summit 19 March 2013

2 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project BLC’s work in Namibia Building Local Capacity for Delivery of HIV Services in Southern Africa Project (BLC), BLC strengthens organizations in Southern Africa to effectively address challenges of the HIV and AIDS epidemic In Namibia civil society organizations (CSOs) critical role in addressing high HIV prevalence (18.8%) Namibian Network for AIDS Service Organisations (NANASO) Global Fund Principal Recipient Network & advocacy organization

3 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Location of 234 CSOs 25.1% 35.6%

4 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project First nation-wide CSO mapping & capacity assessment Adaptation of tool BLC Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool National Strategic Framework Training Protocols & indicate benefits up front Questionnaire & participatory capacity assessment Accompaniment NANASO ownership & buy-in Development of data collection tools TrainingPiloting Data collection, capturing & consolidation Data cleaning & analysis Report writing & dissemination

5 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Evidence of Success and Achievements Teams led by 8 trained NANASO staff (3 Male; 5 Female) Prepare for fieldwork Identify CSOs: snowball-sampling Record GPS coordinates of head offices Administer questionnaire & conduct participatory assessments Capture & clean data Visited 234 CSOs August April 2012 For the first time Throughout 13 regions Members of an organization in the Kavango Region with the assessment team after the group interview was completed.

6 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Registration, Communication & Capacity Scores Types CBO 82.5% National 15.8% International 1.7% MoHSS 17.5% Legally registered 9.8% NANASO members 53.8% Communication s 44.9% Websites 15.4%

7 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Challenges & Solutions Limited funding NANASO vehicles; BLC fuelled Assist NANASO meet its conditions precedent as a Global Fund Principal Recipient Despite challenges; determination “NANASO is passionate to make the study a success…put NANASO on the map!” Former Executive Director Tracing CSOs & securing meetings Snowballing through the Regional AIDS Coordinating Committees (RACOCs)

8 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Lessons Learned It takes close partnership, collaboration, time & resources NANASO has a huge networking and advocacy role to play Share information with strategic partners USAID, Government of the Republic of Namibia - Regional AIDS Coordinating Committees, UNAIDS, Corporate, etc BLC & other partners have role to continue building NANASO’s capacity

9 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Conclusions NANASO better understands its constituency Updated evidence-based database Strategically and effectively utilize information to meet members’ needs Improved capacity > Improve service delivery > relevance Approach can be replicated by other networks to understand their constituency

10 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Questions & Comments

11 Management Sciences for Health MSH Building Local Capacity Project Stronger health systems. Greater health impact. Saving lives and improving the health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.