The Way Forward: HIV/AIDS Strategic Planning in the Asia Pacific Region

Macfarlane Burnet Centre/Secretariat of the Pacific Community

This symposium was a sharing of experiences of Strategic Planning. Representatives from the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Pakistan, the Pacific region as a whole, and Tonga gave presentations specifically. In these different countries, the strategic planning processes discussed, were supported by staff at the Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, and mainly funded by AusAID. Presentations covered the processes used, and lessons learned from the experience of strategic planning in these different countries. Several common threads emerged. Firstly speakers highlighted the benefits of grounding planning in social research. In the words of Dr Niramonh Chanlivong from Laos, "the process generates activities that are based on reality". The need to engage key stakeholders right from the start of the process was also emphasised. The stakeholders varied from country to country, but included Churches, politicians, sex workers, youth, unions, military and police in addition to the government, NGOs and CBOs. In Pakistan, donors were included in the strategic planning process from its inception - which has translated into donor commitment now that the planning process is at the resource mobilisation stage.

All presentations emphasised the importance of including representatives from multiple sectors, and that the process itself builds teamwork and networks, as well as shared ownership of both problems and solutions. Strategic planning is seen as being flexible enough to fit the needs of large and small countries. Also flexible enough to accommodate a process that was driven at a grassroots level (as in Laos), from central government (as in Pakistan and Tibet) or arising out of a regional strategy (as in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories). The value of the process in low prevalence situations was highlighted in an impassioned plea from Laos "Please donors recognise that we low prevalence countries need funding for our planned HIV activities now - don't only concentrate on the high prevalence situations". The social research conducted during strategic planning is being used to successfully sell this fact to donors in Laos. The fact that strategic planning does not end when a plan is written on paper was emphasised by both Andrew Peteru from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, and Dr Pema Yangdran from Tibet, "we have to sell it to our senior officials and then create and maintain the links to get action"