information for practice

Although financing for the response to AIDS in low- and middle-income countries has increased significantly, it falls far short of the scale necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reversing the epidemic by 2015. It is therefore all the more imperative that the most effective use is made of whatever funds
are available. This in turn requires that the many actors in the response to AIDS at the global, national and local levels fully coordinate and harmonize their efforts. This requirement is felt most keenly at the country level. Even in countries that have established national AIDS authorities and clearly defi ned national priorities, parallel financing, planning, programming and monitoring continue to prevail. Inevitably, this weakens the national response. To tackle this pervasive problem, in September 2003, at the 13th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, a working group approved a set of guiding principles for optimizing the use of resources and improving the country-level response to AIDS. In April 2004, the Consultation on Harmonization of International AIDS Funding—bringing together representatives from governments, donors, international organizations and civil society—endorsed the “Three Ones” principles