Fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa continued during pandemic

By Nicholas Allen - for the Lethbridge Herald on May 4, 2022.

A Canadian-based organization is championing community-based partners in response to the AIDS pandemic in Africa.
During the last week’s session of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) shared how its community-based partners in sub-Saharan Africa are safeguarding the progress made in the fight against HIV and AIDs while battling the challenges presented by COVID-19. 
The organization was created in 2003 with the expressed purpose of supporting community-based organizations and working on the front lines of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, with founder, Stephen Lewis, recognizing problems in the way funds were distributed, according to Deputy Director of Impact and Learning at the SLF, Leah Odle-Benson.
“[Lewis] would go out to Sub-Saharan Africa and realize the people doing the work weren’t receiving the funds, people at the front lines weren’t receiving the necessary funds or recognition for the work that they were doing,” said Odle-Benson.
Odle-Benson explained there is a lot of geopolitics involved in conversations around Africa and conversations around colonialism and colonial understandings of the work that was happening in sub-Saharan Africa where funds were being shared.
“We really try to develop and work with models that disrupt the legacies of racism and structural inequity,” said Odle-Benson. “We have strong values of anti-oppression and I think we have a partnership model that’s really infused into the fabric of our day-to-day work.”
According to Odle-Benson the SLF acknowledges the power they have as a funder sitting in an office in Toronto and the imbalance that creates when you are supporting community-based organizations.
“Those most affected know best what the solutions are for their day-to-day realities and challenges…We don’t instruct partners on what they should be doing [or] how they should be doing [the work],” said Odle-Benson.
It is not a linear journey in terms of models of success according to Odle-Benson. There are “ebbs and flows” for the community-based organizations and the impact they can have in their home country, she explained.
“We don’t believe that sustainability comes from funding, a one-off project. This work is long-term. It requires long-term commitment,” said Odle-Benson.
She said COVID-19 has been a very good example of the long-term commitment required. The pandemic required a relationship that’s based on patience, perseverance, commitment, authenticity, understanding, and reliable funding according to Odle-Benson.
“That’s flexible funding as well, [funding] which supports core costs, organizations, things like salaries and rent. Partners cannot do this work meaningfully if their core costs are not supported,” said Odle-Benson.
Along with funding, Odle-Benson stated gender-based violence continues to be very real, with inequalities in terms of accessing resources and health services. Safe spaces that are stigma and discrimination free for those who identify as LGBTQ is extremely difficult in the countries in which SLF partners, she added.
“Many of our LGBTQ partners work in contexts where the law does not support them and their rights,” said Odle-Benson. “There’s much to contend with in the context of inequalities and how that exasperates and exaggerates the context in which partners and then also the vast majority of people living with HIV and AIDS reside in low- and middle-income countries.”
According to Odle-Benson, these lower income areas have only limited access as there is still a lot of stigma and discrimination that exists in national health facilities across the countries that they work in.
“Many of the organizations were started out of necessity that was started in community and they just grew and grew. Because the need was so great. And I think there’s a lot of merit to that kind of approach and understanding that comes when organizations are not just in the community, [they] are made up of community members.”
Communities’ organizations can properly assess the needs of the family. said Odle-Benson.
“Community-based organizations have set up home-based care, essentially community-based care settings where community members can feel safe, accommodated, and where the needs of the whole family are [met],” said Odle-Benson. “I think that the merits of home-based care as an approach have been significantly underrated by the HIV and AIDS response.”
Odle-Benson stated that home-based caregivers are essential to supporting those living with HIV and AIDS in their life journey. She noted many of these home-based care workers are essentially beneficiaries of the organization who now want to continue this work.
“[Home-based caregivers] are so critical to the work of the foundation,” said Odle-Benson.
To watch the session with Odle-Benson on behalf of the Stephen Lewis Foundation visit the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) website.

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