Lessons and Experiences from Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into Urban/Water (AFTU1 & 2) Projects

Summary:
The World Bank has been a prominent player in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and its Global HIV/AIDS Program has leveraged considerable resources to facilitate and support monitoring and evaluation, social and economic impact analyses, and regional research and initiatives in the field. HIV/AIDS cannot be addressed within the confines of health and HIV/AIDS projects alone: there has been considerable emphasis on mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into lending portfolios where HIV/AIDS poses significant risks. From a national and global perspective, this strategy increases the reach of targeted HIV/AIDS interventions to all sectors and more people than can be reached through health projects alone, and from a project perspective, it serves to mitigate the short and long-term risks HIV/AIDS may have on projects-- not by turning HIV/ AIDS projects into urban projects, but by integrating components that can help shield the client communities urban projects support from the economic and social effects of HIV/AIDS. With HIV/AIDS posing evident short and long-term risks for urban projects, the argument for mainstreaming should resonate as a logical intervention supported both by internal management and the client.