HIV/AIDS and Democratisation Programme

NGOs in Southern Africa are experiencing the consequences of the pandemic in their work and in their own organisations. Staff members are frequently absent or ultimately disappear entirely. The loss of staff is often a major problem, since educated and competent employees are not always easy to find, and because crucial knowledge often vanishes when a person is gone.

It is therefore important that organisations develop a workplace policy for HIV/AIDS issues. However, most NGOs have only limited financial resources for such a policy, which moreover is often considered a low priority.

A number of international companies in Southern Africa have implemented successful and effective workplace policies. It is clear from experience that creating a workplace policy is often not the biggest problem, but that things mainly become difficult during implementation. These companies have gained extensive experience in this area by now.

In Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, NiZA is working on linking NGOs to the private sector to develop an implementation methodology for workplace policies. The coalition of the private sector, NGOs and a research institute will ultimately also lobby for better labour laws where HIV/AIDS are concerned.