Technical Support for a Stronger HIV Response in South Asia

indiaaidsalliance 25 July, 2013

A transgender from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Padmini takes pride in her role as a Technical Support Provider (TSP) for Alliance India’s Koshish programme. Supported by European Commission, Koshish advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and key populations in India. She enjoys a sense of satisfaction as she supports community-based organisations (CBOs) for men who have sex with men, sex workers and transgenders in her home state, helping them take their advocacy agenda on SRHR forward. She makes regular technical support visits to these CBOs and provides them handholding support in organisational development.

Padmini is one of the many TSPs trained by the Alliance Regional Technical Support Hub for South Asia (South Asia Hub) through the Koshish programme. Working with CBOs to identify candidates from key population groups with potential to be good trainers, the Hub has developed a pool of TSPs for Koshish by working with community members like Padmini. With ongoing backstopping to the TSPs, the Hub ensures that the technical support provided is of good quality and meets the needs of programme CBOs. The model encourages TSPs to build on their own experiences and training to further transfer their knowledge and skills to CBOs. This approach has demonstrated measurable results in improving the capacity of CBOs to advocate for SRHR programming for PLHIV and key populations.

Serving a range of clients from different sectors, the technical support provided by the South Asia Hub is based on a philosophy the emphasizes long-term technical assistance, local capacity building, and effective transfer of skills. Stressing South-to-South cooperation, the Hub contributes to the development of organisations able to have a sustained impact on challenges in HIV/AIDS and public health. For example, the South Asia Hub has been engaged by donors like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and GIZ to provide technical assistance to their grant recipients to improve performance.

In diverse contexts and settings across nine countries in the region, the South Asia Hub offers technical support solutions in organisational development, programme implementation, financial & grant management, monitoring & evaluation, and research. In response to the specific needs of each assignment, the Hub follows a thorough and participatory process, which includes active engagement with the client to develop clear terms of reference; sourcing an appropriate consultant or team; management of contracts and logistics; consultant supervision; and the development of deliverables that reflect our commitment to excellence.

To learn more about the South Asia Hub and our work, please visit our website or mail us at info@southasiahub.org.

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The author of this blog Amit Kumar Pandey is Technical Officer, Alliance Regional Technical Support Hub, South Asia.

The Alliance Regional Technical Support Hub for South Asia was established to build the capacity of civil society organisations, government and the private sector in the region to respond more effectively and efficiently to HIV/AIDS. The South Asia Hub primarily serves nine countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The South Asia Hub is part of the global technical support network set up by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance that leverages the Alliance’s implementation and capacity building expertise from around the world. In South Asia, we draw on the experience of a range of regional partners and on a pool of proven consultants who reflect our commitment to excellence and impact.