What Is NGO's The role in raising HIV/AIDS awareness in East Africa - Essay Example

? What is NGO's? The role in raising HIV/AIDS awareness in East Africa Contents Introduction 3 What is NGO? 4 Role of the NGOs 6 HIV/AIDS in East African nations 7 Role of NGO in HIV/AIDS prevention 8 Importance of Signposting in the context of HIV/AIDS 10 AIDS Awareness in East Africa 12 Stigmatisation 12 Relationship of NGOs with the States 13 Prevention of HIV/AIDS 15 Criticisms faced by NGOs 15 Conclusion 16 References 18 Introduction The Non –Governmental organisations are important parts of the society and have a dominant role in shaping the society as well as the development of the international scenario. The function of the NGOs is on two aspects. On one hand they provide services to people or communities of people who are vulnerable from the point of view of the society. Along with this they are dominant policy advocates for campaigning. East Africa is that part of the globe which is exposed to the curse of HIV/AIDS and a huge population of that area is affected by this disease. In the last two decades this region has witnessed a drop in the prevalence especially because Kenya has improved in way of reducing the prevalence of the disease in the country from 14% to at a much lower rate at 5%. However, several other areas of East Africa has emerge which are considered to be some of the highest risk areas since the population in these areas is on the rise. The spread of HIV/AIDS occurs mainly due to the users of drugs, the prisoners as well as the people who are involved in the military services. The main reason for the spread of such life taking diseases is the lack of awareness among the people. The NGOs in this region or in the other parts of the globe have a significant role in the spreading of the awareness regarding this disease and to prevent the spread of the disease in this area. These NGOs are closely observing the different aspects of this problem as a support to the United Nations Programmes in the countries like Mauritius, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. In most of these national AIDS strategy is being taken where the nongovernmental organisations have an active role to play. This essay would try to investigate the role of the Non-government organisations in the countries of East Africa, which is the area which is second most affected by HIV/AIDS. The areas of work and supervision where the NGOs are active are being looked into and how the performance of the NGOs has contributed to the development of these areas and improvement in the health standards of East Africa. The data and information collected for this essay is secondary data from scholarly resources like books, journals and online resource which has supported the subject matter of the essay. What is NGO? The role of Non Governmental Organisations has become prominent in the last two decades at the international, national as well as the local levels across the globe. The NGOs act as the main catalysts for bringing about changes in the society by addressing the problems of the society. In common parlance the term NGO would denote a wide range of institutions that would have the characteristics of being Non profit, representative of the civil society as well as voluntary in nature regarding the sphere of activities. Thus it is important to distinguish between the different types of NGOs that exist. First of all the NGOs might be membership organisations that would have the people who would come forward to help being interested in a particular issue or collective issues. There may also be an intermediary NGO which would work on behalf of any particular group. The definition of NGOs and their significance have varied from country to country. For instance in the UK, NGO is looked at as an alternative for charitable organisations (Lewis and Kanji, 2009, pp. 1-4). This tradition has come down from the values that the Church has instilled in the men for helping the fellowmen in need. Thus the NGOs in the UK are mainly governed by the laws relating to charity according to the principles of Christianity. On the other hand in the United States NGOs are viewed as organisations through which common people may contribute to the welfare of the public. However, the activities of the NGOs are mostly linked to the developmental aspects or in relation to the developing countries. With the formation of the United Nations the term NGO has been assigned to those organisations which have helped in the activities of the United Nations organisations. NGOs have been referred to using various acronyms like Non Profit Organisations, Self Help Groups, Interest Associations and People’s Organisations. There are about 47 different acronyms by which NGOs may be identified. In other words, organisations in a country may be put under three categories which would include the government organisations, the for-profit organisations and the non-government organisations which are non-profit organisations as well. According to Salamon and Anheier, the NGOs have been defined from legal, economic as well as functional points of view. It is thus imperative to point out the key features that would characterise a non-profit organisation. First of all, an NGO is a formal institution in the sense that it is institutionalised. There is a particular structure of the NGOs and a particular method in which decision making takes place in the organisation. The members of the organisation assemble in meetings in a regular basis where the discussion regarding the various agenda takes place. Secondly an NGO is a private organisation and hence it is to be distinguished from a government organisation. Thirdly an NGO is also non profit making which means that the surplus funds that is generated from the donations is not shared by any entity who is supposed to comprise of the management of the organisation. Fourthly, the NGOs are self governing which means that there is no external influence in the management of the organisations. Finally an NGO is basically a voluntary organisation which means that the participation in such an organisation would depend on the whim of the individual members. The board of governors in such organisation might also be voluntary. Thus from the above mentioned features of an NGO it is clear that such organisations are involved in the support of any social, legal, political or legal cause. Thus the main objective of such organisation is the development of the people in some way which would require some additional support of the third sector and which otherwise would not have been addressed. Role of the NGOs The NGOs work under a very wide framework and a variety of activities are included in their purview. There are a number of ways in which the activities of the non-governmental organisation can be classified. There are three broad ways in which the role of the NGOs can be classified. The NGOs often act as a group that would take part in the implementation of any changed system. Again they would act as a channel for addressing any social issue. The third role of the NGOs would be to act as partners of government or private enterprises in the way of tackling any legal, economic or social problem. As a group aiming at the implementation of social change the nongovernmental organisations provide support to the people in need by providing the necessary goods as well as services like education, healthcare, human rights, financing. The NGOs often come forward in case there is requirement of relief services support for any emergency adverse situation. In the present day the activities of the NGO has revolved around the delivery of the variety of services rather than providing the basic needs of the people like food, shelter and clothing. In most of the countries of the world the governmental or the private organisations take the support of the NGOs to carry out their CSR activities. For this the NGOs have been financed by the government or the private organisations. The role of the NGOs in case of the emergencies and the calamities are becoming more prominent on the present day. The NGO would also act as a catalyst for any change that is necessary for the development and progress of the society. Thus as a catalyst, an NGO would try to provide inspiration, or would facilitate the progress or improved thought in the society. This kind of activity of an NGO is generally inclined towards specific communities or groups of people. In this case the NGOs generally act in support of some other institution or entity. As a partner an NGO may also be involved in a variety of activities in which both the adversities and the benefits would be borne by both the parties in case of partnership. However, in most cases the roles of the NGOs are limited to only one specific area of action. In the activities of campaigning the NGOs play a dominant role. There is requirement for the mass awareness about the disease and the symptoms of the same among the people both in the urban and the rural areas. The campaigns are done through mere education programmes at the local levels or along with camps that would help in the testing and the voluntary awareness programmes. There is an ardent need of an institutionalised framework that would govern these programmes and would provide for the necessary resources. In order to proceed further in the essay, it is important to look into the various aspects of HIV/AIDS especially from the point of view of the East African Nations. HIV/AIDS in East African nations The Sub-Saharan nations are those which have been affected by HIV/AIDS in the worst manner. 64% of the world population who are affected by this disease live in this particular area. Out of this group of people affected by this disease, 59% are women. About 2 million children of this region are affected by this disease in the most adverse manner. These children are deprived of the basic services that are required to treat the people who are HIV positive. East African nation are those which are supposed to be the second most worst hit areas with HIV/AIDS. In the past few years the level of HIV/ AIDS in this region has remained more or less at a constant rate. Kenya is one of the countries where various attempts have resulted in the decline of the disease with the use of condoms as well as with the spread of awareness regarding having less number of sexual partners (Poku, N., 2005, pp. 51-79). The country has witnessed a drop in the percentage of HIV affected people from 14% to 5%. The reason for this is the rise in the mortality rates among the individuals and most of the reasons that could lead to spread of infection have been saturated. The constancy in the rate of HIV/AIDS in the region is because of the fact that although Kenya has been able to tackle the problem to a large extent a large number of countries in the other areas are witnessing a rise in the problem. Hence the progress of Kenya is offset by the adversities in these countries. Uganda is also one of the large countries of East Africa which has declined since the start of the 1990s. The disease is on the decline in the country because the occurrence of the disease has reached a stable phase. The disease is found to be diminishing specially among the expecting mothers in the capital of Uganda. However, a huge number of people in the country were still living with this particular problem due to the lack of awareness and proper campaign programmes. In the country of Tanzania, the number of people who are infected by the disease is found to decline. However, the rate of people newly affected showed an upward trend. As in 2011, about 150,000 of the people of Tanzania were found to be affected by the disease. About 5.1% of the population of the country were living with the disease as in 2011. This percentage has remained stable over the years. An interesting fact to be noted in this regard is that the disease is common among the women of the age group of 30 and 34 which means that relatively older population of 13% is being affected by HIV/AIDS in Tanzania. In the country of Somalia on the other hand the rate of HIV/AIDS. The awareness regarding the use of condoms is lacking in the country. Thus HIV/AIDS is considered to be as one of the biggest changes for these countries in the path of development. Role of NGO in HIV/AIDS prevention Most of the NGOs act in alignment with the government policies for the prevention of the disease in the East African Nations. The approaches that most of the NGOs take are holistic in nature and try to mitigate the problems through mass participation in the missions. The national policies are an integral part of the steps that have been taken to eradicate the disease from this area. Several other strategies have been implemented in these countries to eradicate the disease. The objective of the international organisations like the WHO or the UNESCO has been to decrease the occurrence and the spread of this disease. In order to achieve these most of the NGOs have taken various strategies both explicit and implicit. First of all the NGOs take a prudent step by increasing the access as well as the utilisation of the testing as well as the counselling services in a voluntary manner for the people are detected or are possibly be affected by the disease (Opoku-Mensati, P., Lewis, D. and Tvedt, T., 2007, pp. 31-82). Secondly the NGOs with the support of the government try to identify the behavioural aspects of the people like the unsafe practices relating to sex while might expose the people to a lot of health related risks. These steps would bring about a change in the actions of the people. In case of the transmission of the disease from the affected mother to the child preventive measures have been taken by the NGOs by spreading the awareness mostly among the women. The NGOs also have been aiming at the awareness of using condoms and helping the people to have access to the same with the support of proper education about its needs and uses. The NGOs also have a dominant role in the various communities by identifying the issues and cases of alcohol abuse and the conduct of unsafe sex. This is done generally by pointing out the groups both at the local and the national level and by spreading the awareness regarding the nuances of improper gender relations (Matthews, 2011, pp. 43-46). The strategy of most of the NGOs to form voluntary groups that would reach to each corner of the countries is an attempt to eradicate the disease at the grass-root level. The high risk segments are taken into consideration from a top priority point of view. The use of media is done extensively to increase the level of awareness and to remove any kind of discrimination or cases of stigmatisation due to misconceptions about the disease (Mosse, 2005, pp. 61-83). The NGOs also take essential steps for the transmission of safe blood and products of the same across the countries where it is required. In these kinds of situations mostly the community based organisations come forward to provide better service delivery, undertake preventive programmes as well as care to the affected people in the specific areas of occurrence. The role of the NGOs in these cases is considered as the strategic partners of the government of the respective countries. The NGOs have a dominant role in bridging the gap between the policies formulated by the government and the various channels of deliver through which the assistance would actually reach the target group of people. There is an increasing demand for innovation in the techniques and the strategies that the NGOs take to create awareness and deliver the responsibilities and the tasks that they undertake on behalf of the society. Hence the role of the NGOs is quite positive and they are considered to be instrumental in bringing about changes and development in the society at large. Importance of Signposting in the context of HIV/AIDS Signposting is a set of instructions or direction provided to the mass regarding the presence or occurrence of something. It is an indication, a guide or a sign for making the people aware about it. In the context of HIV/AIDS, it is important for the NGOs to sign post the symptoms of the disease and to let the people know at what stage the AIDS affected patient is at. This is important because the treatment of the individuals would be carried forward according to the stage of the disease people are into. Thus it is important for the mass of this area to understand and indentify the various symptoms and the actions that should be following these. The Early signs of the disease would include flu-like symptoms like fever, swelling of the glands, rashes, headache, fatigue and pain. These kinds of symptoms would exist for around two to four weeks of time. In case people develop these kinds of reactions they have to be immediately taken for medical treatment as these could be the early signs of HIV/AIDS. Not only the people affected by the disease especially the women and the other members of the family should be aware of such ailments and in case of occurrence should take the person for necessary treatment. However, simply knowing the symptoms would not work. The people person who is predicted to have HIV/AIDS should be taken for test to understand the intensity of the problems. The NGOs have to spread the awareness about the fact that the people have to be careful about their status even if the symptoms are not present. Thus any person who is into sexual activities with a person who is found to be infected by the disease or whose HIV status is unknown, without proper protection have to be taken for time to time testing of their own HIV status. It is also important to signpost the different ways in which the people prevent the disease. This would be done with the help of the NGOs explaining the different ways in which the people avoid the disease. First of all prevention is the key to avoid the disease. Along with this the people are educated by the NGOs to have a single partner for sex rather than having multiple partners (Seckinelgin, 2006, pp. 715–727). Along with this it is also important to know the HIV status of the partner with whom the person intends to have sex. Thus before undertaking any such action, testing for the confirmation of the status has to be done. If people have more than one sexual partner it is important to have their HIV status tested in every 3 to 6 months of time. Since the disease is transmitted mainly because of the lack of awareness about and access to condoms, the NGOs generally try to make easy access to these preventive measures to the distant places in the countries so that the common people can make proper use of the condoms and are aware of the other means of prevention like self control or having monogamous relation. AIDS Awareness in East Africa Several measures have been taken by the governmental and the non-governmental institutions to spread the knowledge about HIV/AIDS in the countries of East Africa. Information campaigns have thus formed an essential part of the campaigns to let the people understand the nuances of the disease. The knowledge of the existence of the disease is less in most of the countries in East Africa. It has been found that out of the HIV positive people only 51% of the people are aware about their HIV status. This is more dominant in the rural areas where 58% of the rural population detected with the disease where unknown of their own status. On the other hand 49% of the urban population were not aware of their status. As per the Kenya Health Demographic Survey it was found that 99% of the people who were interrogated were aware of the fact that HIV was a sexually transmitted disease. The agencies like the NGOs or the organisations which are related to the United Nations have taken the steps to carry out the campaigns all over the Eastern parts of Africa which have resulted in positive effect for the people living in these nations. Stigmatisation Stigmatisation is also another adverse aspect of HIV/AIDS. People who are generally detected with this disease get attached to the social stigma and they are generally alienated because people lack the awareness that the disease cannot be spread by mere physical contact with the person detected with the disease. It was found that the East African countries have a very high rate of prejudice among the people about the people living with AIDS. Studies have established that the people who are living with the disease have been discriminated by the others in their communities. More than 56% of the people who are being detected by the disease have claimed that they have been victims of discrimination. Surprisingly, while rate of prejudice in the urban areas is 56% in the rural areas it is 49%. This means the lack of proper knowledge in the urban areas have resulted in the rise in the level of prejudice. While 59% of the males were found to be reporting to the authorities against discriminatory practices only 49% of the females did the same. It has also been fund that people in order to avoid the social stigma being applied to them try to hide their status HIV. This was found to be done by 25% of the population. The main reason behind this is the presence of improper information about the disease. Thus apart from affecting the health and the well-being of the people the social status of the people also suffers a set-back. The alienation from the people from the mainstream society poses a psychological cost for the people who are affected by the disease. Thus the duty of the NGOs also involves the removal of such prejudiced ideas from the minds of the people. Various voluntary organisations have tried to measure this level and the above mentioned results have followed. Thus it has been seen that the communities in the East African countries do not treat the HIV positive people in the right manner (Smillie, 2007, pp. 112–130). There is also lack of staff in the Voluntary Counselling centres mainly managed by the NGOs. The disease is also found to be transmitted in case the people are engaged with paid partners. Hence there is also a dominant position of the NGOs in the context of sop evils like trafficking. Relationship of NGOs with the States The involvement of the government in the entire process is essential for the success of the non-governmental organisations. In most cases the civil society organisations work in collaborations with the government departments with regard to the definite areas of attention. These steps are taken at the national and local levels. In case of the NGOs working in an international arena have to work in collaboration with the international organisations like the World Health Organisation or the UNESCO. The availability of healthcare and medical facilities form important parts of the public services that the government needs to provide t o the citizens of a country since they collect the taxes. However the channels of delivery of these services are not pronounced. As a result the desired facilities do not reach the people who are affected by the disease in the villages and localised areas where the disease is predominant. Most of the people are not literate and hence they do not understand the need to have safe and secure sex. Therefore there is also a necessity to spread the awareness through the promotion and the campaigns (Lewis, 2007, pp. 172-183). In most of the collaborative projects, focus has been put on a particular thematic issue of the societal problems. For example the problems relating to health was brought into attention in the collaborative projects. The collaboration was more acceptable on part of the government because there delivery of the various policies which are being formulated by the government would be better executed through proper delivery channels if the NGOs are involved in the process. There are various reasons why there is a need for collaboration. First of all the government can provide the necessary infrastructure and the technical knowhow with the use of the proper resources in the process. Since the scale of operation of the NGOs is comparatively small it is not possible for them to arrange for the entire infrastructure needed for the proper use of the plans. Hence these kinds of collaborations would lead to better management if the problems related to HIV/AIDS. Secondly, although the governments of the East African countries have the knowhow, they may not have enough financial strength to support the projects till the end. Collaboration with the NGOs would help in the collection of funds from voluntary sources in East Africa as well as in form of donation from the other foreign countries. Again often there are cases where very small issues crop up in the specific regions which may not come into the attention of the government. In such situations the NGOs help in addressing those problems which may be neglected if the problems are tackled by the government singlehandedly (Ambasa-Shisanya, 2009, pp. 72-101). The governments also consider it essential to implement the awareness spreading model with the help of the NGOs because then the reach of the policy would be widened. The work that the NGOs undertake can be sustainable only if there is support on part of the government of the respective countries. Prevention of HIV/AIDS The NGOs have a prominent role in trying to prevent the spread of the disease. The youth of the East African countries are most vulnerable to the disease. Therefore it is important to have a proper education programme targeted at the youth of the nations. The prevention programmes are the key to the reduction in the infection as well as the rate of deaths. This it is important to spread the awareness in the schools at the very basic level. This strategy is being taken because the huge amount of the young East African population can be reached at the primary as well as the secondary schools where the enrolment rates is quite high at the present day. The schools have to collaborate with the government to make the prevention programmes in each of the localities successful. The teachers would play a prominent role in this regard. This is because the students at such a young age would be to a large extent be influence by the adults, especially the teachers. Criticisms faced by NGOs The role of the NGOs have been criticised by the policy makers, the different activists as well as the private companies which are mainly for profit organisations. The NGOs have often found it difficult to get the support of the government in the cases where their agenda did not fit into the policy framework formulated by the government. The NGOs often are criticised stating that the type of activities that they undertake exhaust a lot of the resources and the energy of the people involved. Since most of the people who are involved in the charitable activities or the preventive activities are persons who come forward voluntarily they lack the necessary skills that would ensure efficient management of the organisation. Thus in case of the collaborative activities which require the cooperation of the other NGOs, the issue that one organisation would consider to be important would be ignored by the others. On the flip side one particular NGO may become dominant and may undermine the other NGOs. This may move the NGOs from the main focus (Lindenberg and Bryant, 2001, pp. 25-49). Several legal issues have become matter of controversy for the NGOs. Often they are found to violate the rules and regulations that are being imposed by the respective governments. The NGOs do not follow the guidelines that are imposed by the government regarding the standards of service delivery which has a negative effect on the final outcome of the mission. Conclusion From the analysis of the various sections of the essay it is clear that the Non-governmental organisations act as a significant part of the society having a dominant role both in the urban areas as well as the rural areas of East Africa. The various roles of the NGOs can be understood from the wide range of areas where they operate. However a large number of challenges lie ahead of the NGOs in the context of the prevention of AIDS in the countries. There might be a clash in the interest of the NGOs which act as activist in the society and the ones who work in support of the government policies. These differences have to be eradicated in order to have better channels of awareness among the people. Coordination from all segments of the society would be essential for this along with the government as well as the private sector support. Some of the nations like Kenya and Uganda have been able to overcome such problems and thereby have been able to reduce the percentage of people who are affected by the disease. The path that these nations have taken should be taken as a lesson for the other countries of East Africa where this awareness is much less and each day more and more people are getting affected by HIVAIDS. The problems of the society can only be addressed properly if adequate measures are taken for making the people aware about the preventive measures, the misconceptions are eradicated and the affected persons are diagnosed and treated in the right manner. References Ambasa-Shisanya, C. R., 2009. Cultural Determinants of Adoption of HIV/AIDS Prevention Measures and Strategies among Girls and Women in Western Kenya. Addis Ababa: African Books Collective. Lewis, D. and Kanji, N., 2009. Non-governmental Organisations and development. Oxon: Routledge. Lewis, D., 2007. The Management of Nongovernment Development Organizations. Oxon: Routledge. Lindenberg, M. and Bryant, C., 2001. Going Global: Transforming Relief and Development NGOs. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian. Matthews, D., 2011. Intellectual property, human rights and development: The role of NGOs and social movements. Glos: Edward Elgar publishing limited. Mosse, D., 2005. Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice. London: Pluto Press. Opoku-Mensati, P., Lewis, D. and Tvedt, T., 2007. Reconceptualising NGOs and their roles in development, NGOs, civil society and the International Aid system. Aalborg: Aalborg University Press. Poku, N., 2005. AIDS in Africa: How the Poor are Dying. Cambridge: Polity Press. Seckinelgin, H., 2006. 'The Multiple Worlds of NGOs and HIV ? AIDS: Rethinking, NGOs and their Agency'. Journal of International Development, Vol. 18(5), pp. 715–727. Smillie, I., 2007. Global Accountabilities: Participation, Pluralism and Public Ethics. 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