Background of the Council
The National Council for People Living with HIV/AIDS Tanzania (NACOPHA) was founded by PLHAs in the country to serve as the peak body and ultimate voice advocating for issues and concerns of the PLHAs in Tanzania. The Council was registered in September, 2005 as a non-partisan, non governmental and not-for-profit organization
Though NACOPHA is relatively new in existence the Council is faced with many challenges in its quest to be the national representative voice and the peak organ in coordinating the issues and activities of PLHAs in the country, revolving around the following key areas:
(i) Improved capacity of PLHA CSOs to effectively implement their programs and activities aimed at improving the condition of their health
(ii) Lack of ability of PLHAs to participate fully in social, economic and political activities
(iii) Stigma and discrimination as a result of the effects of HIV and AIDS
(iv) Lack of good understanding of the human rights issues of PLHAs
The objective of the Strategic Plan for NACOPHA is essentially to address these and other related issues. It expects to utilise an understanding of the Council’s background and experience and strengths of its stakeholers to marshal its resources and energise all its constituent parts to meet the present as well as any ensuing challenges.
As a Strategic Plan, it states the Vision, Mission, Values, Objectives of NACOPHA and the Strategies that would be adopted for their attainment within the life of the Plan. It is expected that this will provide direction and help the Council to attain its objectives for the benefit of the all PLHAs in the country.
The Vision represents NACOPHA’s ultimate goal while the Mission represents the set of current activities intended to drive the organisation toward the Vision. To accomplish the Mission, a set of Objectives has been defined together with Strategies for their achievement.
Day to day activities of the Council are managed by a secretariat headed by Chief Executive Officer who reports to the Board of Directors charged with the overall governance issues, strategic planning and policies. The General Meeting is the highest body in the decision making process of the Council.
Strategic Planning Process
NACOPHA initially undertook the process of developing its first Strategic Plan in September, 2007. It embarked on a comprehensive consultation with as many HIV/AIDS stakeholder constituents as possible in the country, and in particular PLHAs. The Strategic Planning Process has been a collaborative and deliberative process that has allowed for extensive participation of the stakeholders in HIV/AIDS in various forums in September 2007, January 2008 and culminating in February, 2009.
The aim was to develop a roadmap that would enable NACOPHA become an effective national representative voice for PLHAs in the country and play an important role in the national response to HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The process enabled us to clearly define our strategic framework (Vision, Mission and Objectives) and identify a number of key areas of involvement (strategic priorities) fundamental for the coordinating work of the Council for the period of the Plan.
As we continue to grapple with complexities of the environment in which we live and work and the rapidity of change in the issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic the process to develop our Strategic Plan clearly aimed to reflect the fact that the Council would mainly be involved in the coordinating role of the programs and activities of PLHAs in the country and would not be involved in the actual delivery of the services to the intended recipients.
This Strategic Plan sets out the key issues to be pursued by Council over the next three years and beyond to address and coordinate the PLHAs community’s needs and aspirations. The Plan defines priority programs and strategies that Council will place continuing - and in some instances greater emphasis on - as a result of a stakeholders input during the consultation phase of the planning process
The strategic plan is a living document of what we are about to achieve and as a guide it is invaluable. The duration of the strategic plan is three years but the NACOPHA will retain flexibility to respond to new issues as they emerge, which are inevitable over this time.
Link between the Strategic Plan and Annual Operational Plans/Budgets
As the Strategic Plan spans several years, its implementation relies on Council preparing annual Operational Plans which identify those parts of the Strategic Plan that will be achieved during any one financial year. These Operational Plans will then provide the basis for Council’s annual Budget. Council reports on its performance against the Operational Plan and Budget monthly, as well as in through the Annual Report.
Performance Reporting
Reporting on Strategic Plan Performance is formally completed on a yearly basis through the Council’s Annual Report and also through monthly and quarterly performance reporting. The Annual Report presents the results achieved for that particular year with clear references back to the major Strategic Plan goals and strategies.