Praxis Paper 11. Counting the Organisational Cost of HIV/AIDS to Civil Society Organisations: Pilot Research Study, Malawi

HIV/AIDS mainstreaming has traditionally been equated with adjusting programmes to be more relevant to beneficiaries affected by HIV/AIDS. Bitter experience is demonstrating, however, that civil society organisations (CSOs) are not immune to the impacts of AIDS within their own organisations. CSOs in Sub-Saharan Africa are adversely affected by rising absenteeism and increased medical and staff welfare costs. Few local CSOs are responding adequately to this threat, partly because they simply do not know the extent of these costs.

This paper suggests how CSOs in Sub-Saharan Africa can build organisational resilience in order to survive the loss of valuable staff, time and money that HIV/AIDS will cause. It also concludes with practical recommendations for their donors in how they can move beyond being ‘concerned bystanders’.