Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV and AIDS (CAPAH)

Summary

The Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV and AIDS (CAPAH) is a pan-African network of likeminded parliamentarians committed to increasing their role in the response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Members of CAPAH want to improve the advocacy, policymaking and oversight role of parliamentarians in order to increase parliamentary participation in the fight against HIV and AIDS. This network provides an opportunity for members from across the continent to share lessons learned and develop a community of practice dedicated to strong HIV and AIDS leadership.

Background

Recent research has revealed that the level of involvement of legislatures in contributing to the response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Africa is rather weak. There is weak parliamentary participation and oversight in HIV policy making and programmes.

As representatives of the people and given the oversight role of parliaments with regard to budget expenditure, parliamentarians have the responsibility to represent the needs of their constituents. Parliamentarians can carry out this role through:

• Enacting legislation to protect the rights of those affected and infected by HIV and aids;
• Overseeing the proper implementation of programmes;
• Supervising the proper allocation of resources to national HIV and AIDS programmes; and
• Advocating against the stigma of HIV and AIDS and promoting greater awareness of the disease.

In some African countries the Executive Branch of Government has provided strong leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS. But even in such countries the role of legislators remains pivotal. Most Members of Parliament in their respective constituencies face the reality of HIV and AIDS by dealing with issues of sickness, funerals, orphanhood and widowhood on a daily basis. Their role both within the community and in the policymaking process cannot be underestimated.

Why are Parliamentarians not more involved in HIV and AIDS issues?

Strategic visions vs political endurance

Most elected representatives operate on short term agendas tied to their four or five year election cycle. The need to survive the next election conflicts with the demand to serve posterity. Stigma attached to the disease makes HIV and AIDS a sensitive and politically unattractive issue to champion.

Weak oversight capacity

Most African executive branches have not developed a relationship of accountability with their parliaments in matters relating to HIV and AIDS. Conversely, Parliamentarians have considered the problem inherently as a health issue requiring intervention primarily by the executive.

HIV and AIDS Committees in Parliaments

Although SADC-PF has recommended that African Parliaments should form HIV and AIDS specific Parliamentary Committees, very few have done so. This is mostly for budgetary reasons.

Membership to portfolio Parliamentary Committees is determined by the Political Party leadership which rarely considers the commitment of the member to HIV and AIDS issues.

Lack of institutional response

Few studies have been carried out to investigate the impact of HIV and AIDS on parliaments. Work place programmes for parliamentarians are few and rather weak.

Training

There is a marked failure by trainers to sensitize legislators on the important inter-linkages between their constitutional and legal obligation on one side and the political, economic and social state of their constituencies on the other. Parliamentarians also lack training on the complexities of HIV and AIDS and policy implications which go well beyond developing stronger health programs.

Formation of the Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV and AIDS

In addition to the notion of strengthening Parliamentary Health and HIV and AIDS Committees to increase parliamentary oversight of HIV and AIDS, a group of African legislators from about 30 countries formed a Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV and AIDS (CAPAH) in February, 2006. The parliamentarians involved in the creation of CAPAH felt that although regional initiatives exist to support and promote the work of parliamentarians against HIV and AIDS there is no pan-African body to create partnership and linkages across the continent between legislators on HIV and AIDS issues. Participants felt that a network of Members of Parliament committed to the fight against HIV and AIDS could mobilize and advocate for stronger parliamentary oversight of the pandemic and create a community of practice to share experiences and support each other in these initiatives.

Mandate

CAPAH aims to be an independent non-political not for profit network of parliamentarians dedicated to working together on HIV and AIDS efforts. CAPAH will collaborate with existing institutions and regional bodies such as SADC-PF and ECOWAS in order to ensure that the response to HIV and AIDS is prioritized and monitored at national, regional and Pan African levels of governance.

Objectives

The following objectives were agreed upon by CAPAH’s founding members:

Capacity Building

• Capacity building of MPs to effectively undertake oversight role on all HIV and AIDS matters
• Resource mobilization and coordination from governments and the donor community at international and local levels in order to implement CAPAH activities

Create Supportive Environments

• Ensure prevention, care, support and impact mitigation are incorporated into national development plans including poverty reduction strategies, national budget allocations, and sectoral development plans and programs
• Ensure multisectoral strategies and financial plans address the epidemic effectively and efficiently
• Strengthen and/or develop legislation, regulations and other measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS and members of vulnerable groups such as orphaned vulnerable children
• Create and ensure a supportive environment for local and national organizations to expand and strengthen partnerships, coalitions and networks in fighting HIV and AIDS
• Facilitation of public participation in the work of parliamentarians in Africa on HIV and AIDS

Collaboration and Partnerships

• Foster stronger collaboration and the development of innovative partnerships between members of parliaments with civil society within the country and abroad in the fight against HIV and AIDS
• Collaborate with similar national, regional, Pan African and international coalitions

Advocacy

• Advocate for national legal and policy frameworks that protect workplace rights and dignity of persons living with and affected by HIV and AIDS
• Stress the need for gender equality and empowerment of women as fundamental elements in the reduction of the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV and AIDS
• Confront stigma, silence and denial and ensure participation of persons living with HIV and AIDS and other vulnerable groups in strategies to address the pandemic.

CAPAH proposes to undertake the following activities to meet its objectives:

• Initiate projects that will enable the coalition to achieve its objectives
• Identify and share regional lessons learned in the parliamentary response to HIV and AIDS
• Convene regional exchanges for MPs and other/relevant stakeholders to share experiences on parliamentary responses to HIV and AIDS
• Lobby (through national representatives) for increased budgetary allocations for HIV & AIDS programmes at the national level; furthermore, ensure allocations reach local government

CAPAH Steering Committee

An Interim Steering Committee was elected in February 2006 charged with the responsibility of drafting the necessary founding documents and guiding the expansion of the network over the next year. The Committee is composed of the following parliamentarians:

Chairperson - Hon. Lediana Mafuru Mng’ong’o, MP – Tanzania
Vice Chairperson - Hon. Justin C. Malewezi, MP – Malawi
Secretary - Hon. Akua Dansua, MP – Ghana
Vice Secretary - Hon. Blessing Chebundo, MP – Zimbabwe

CAPAH results to date

In its first six months of existence, CAPAH has been seen on the international scene raising awareness on the important role parliamentarians can play in holding governments accountable to their HIV and AIDS pandemic responses. Although members spoke at various commonwealth parliamentary events, its most significant address to date was during the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto where the audience included groups such as policy makers, civil society organizations, researchers as well as government officials.

CAPAH has requested that the Parliamentary Centre, a Canadian-based international NGO dedicated to improving the effectiveness of legislatures around the world, act as its Secretariat.

The CAPAH contact person at the Parliamentary Centre is Annie Gingras