Mrs Juldeh Ceesay, Monitoring and Evaluation director, National Planning Commission has said that mainstreaming HIV and AIDS into the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSPs) provides  support for the national development process, because  it is linked with  development concerns in  such areas  as poverty, gender inequality and institutional exclusion to name a few.

Mrs Ceesy made these statements  recently  at a workshop organised by the National Planning Commission, on integration of HIV and AIDS into PRSP Mainstreaming Planning and Implementation Cycles, held at the Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi. "PRSP is an expression of the commitment of the government and people of The Gambia to eradicate poverty in the medium and long term such as, improved public sector management, increased priority for human development, economic growth, redistribution strategy and removing inequalities to   economic development and also enhancing participation in the development process," she said.

Mrs Ceesay also said that "the long term goals of PRSP are to eradicate poverty by significantly increasing national income through economic growth and reducing income and non income inequalities through specific poverty reduction action." Also explaining that the  PRSP is both  a national and international agenda to improve lives and livelihoods of the millions of poor people who are without  access to most basic services and amenities that guarantee a decent living.  "Mainstreaming as an action is an essential approach for expanding, scaling-up and implementing multicultural responses to HIV and AIDS.

This is because  mainstreaming in this sense, requires a dual approach and understanding," she said. She also stated that  the issue of HIV and AIDS  needs to become a normal part of operations for individuals and institutions. Claiming that  "mainstreaming is crucial for addressing vulnerabilities to HIV infections in order to avert potential negative impact.

Early mainstreaming actions she revealed , helps stem the upsurge of HIV epidemics and reduce the impact. "The challenge for  the sectors is to ensure that addressing HIV and AIDS in all its manifestations and complexities, becomes integrated in each sector's routine functions, while also  maintaining  space for innovations," she declared.

Ceesay then went further to  shed light on the importance  of sector and program mainstreaming ,stressing  that HIV and AIDS epidemic increasingly poses complex development challenges for the country's development, mainstreaming HIV and AIDS into National Development Documents she said remains a key approach to addressing the causes of  this growing epidemic. "Mainstreaming enables a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder responses for ensuring integration of planning and  resource  mobilization for programmes related to these  issues," she stated.

This integration, Mrs Ceesay said,  stimulates much needed action and promotes a programmatic approach to mainstreaming, so that sector programmes incorporate HIV and AIDS relevant actions in their regular and institutional budget cycles and capacity building. She  advised that the process should be directed to policy makers, development partners, HIV and AIDS focal points in sector, private sector, trade unions, NGOs, CSOs and Community groups.

The  process is also ideal for strengthening the knowledge and capacity to implement national AIDS Framework, she said. "It is important to know that mainstreaming HIV and AIDS does not entirely rest in the hands of the focal points or experts, therefore, appropriate support and proces as well as accountability mechanisms should be in place to build the requisite capacity and expertise throughout the organisation and the ownership gained," she concluded.