Principles for technical support

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Principles for technical support

Principles for all

1. Recognize that requests for technical support are not an admission

of failure or poor performance but rather that technical support is a

valuable and measurable investment in countries' national, regional

and local HIV responses, bringing added value to programme

implementation.

2. Recognize that technical support needs are both organizational

(including issues of governance, leadership and management) and

thematic (including provision of HIV prevention, treatment, care and

support programmes).

3. Recognize that technical support aims to build long-term,

sustainable capacity and as such is not a one-off event but rather is

a continuing, cyclical process, requiring long-term and flexible

investment, while recognizing the need for one-off support in

specific instances.

4. Recognize that the provision of technical support must not only be

timely but also forward looking, anticipating future technical

support needs, and that the time of both technical support users and

providers is itself a resource that when well invested will

contribute to building long-term, sustainable capacity.

5. Recognize that technical support should be provided in keeping

with the cultural context, particularly in terms of language issues,

and the HIV epidemic itself and should evolve in relation to the

growth of countries, organizations and communities.

6. Recognize that supporting horizontal learning processes such as

South–South cooperation, organizational twinning and peer-to-peer

knowledge exchange, based on learning from experience, provides a

foundation for real independence, inner confidence and sustainable

capacity development. Horizontal learning can be supported as both a

method and a methodology.

7. Recognize that responding to HIV is an indigenous, locally driven

process, requiring support for epidemiologically informed, evidence-

informed and locally developed solutions, which can be supported

bylinking local processes to wider learning bilaterally, regionally

and internationally.

Principles for technical support

8. Affirm that national dialogue, leadership and commitment are

crucial to ensuring that the demand and supply of technical support

are coordinated and harmonized at all steps of the process, including

identifying1 and prioritizing technical support needs; identifying

collective strengths; developing appropriate terms of reference;

planning and budgeting for technical support activities;

implementing, monitoring and evaluating technical

support; following up recommendations; and strengthening the

provision of future technical support.

9. Commit to involve people living with HIV and women, young people,

sexual minorities and other key populations at higher risk in

identifying technical support needs and involve them as technical

support providers by providing resources and supporting sustained

efforts to build the capacities of these individuals and their

organizations as technical support providers.

10. Recognize that all parties are mutually accountable for ensuring

that the provision of technical support is inclusive, transparent and

cost effective.

11. Commit to collect and make publicly available, in easily

understandable formats, complete data on technical support

expenditure and outcomes, in accordance with the policies and

operating rules of technical support funders and providers, and those

of donors concerning the publication of information.

12. Reaffirm commitment to the " Three Ones " principles,2 the

Declaration adopted at the High-Level Forum on Harmonization in Rome,

Italy (February 2003) and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness:

Ownership, Harmonisation, Alignment, Results and Mutual

Accountability (March 2005) by providing and implementing technical

support in line with them.

13. Recognize that technical support often involves extensive and

expensive travel and endeavour to reduce this through measures such

as using consultants from the country or region, telephone

conferencing, video links and other means.

Roles and responsibilities of technical support providers

1. Assist technical support users, through a process of dialogue, to

determine their own capacity-building requirements and technical

support needs, including developing terms of reference and

performance indicators, respecting users' priorities and aligning

technical support with organizational and national AIDS plans and

cycles.

2. Assist governments and partners to develop and implement the

country's national AIDS plan.

3. Support proactive planning and budgeting for technical support,

including through providing untied grants so as to allow users to

fund their self-identified priorities.

4. Maximize the use of country-level procurement, financial

management and reporting systems.

5. Ensure that technical support is of high quality, delivered by

well-trained and professional providers and, where possible, by local

technical experts. Where this is less feasible, make every effort to

use external experts in a manner that builds in-country expertise.

6. Review technical support policies and procedures and align them

with the principles above.

7. Invest in their own capacity development in an array of skills—

including clinical, epidemiological, monitoring and evaluation,

management and social planning and research, and community engagement—

so that technical support is needs led and priority driven,

culturally appropriate, coordinated, monitored and of high quality.

8. Ensure confidentiality and respect for the client (technical

support requester), regardless of the funding source.

9. As part of the preparatory process, carry out a quick but

comprehensive situation assessment to ensure that there is no

duplication of the work of other donors or in-country efforts.

10. Commit to building and transferring technical skills rather than

simply carrying out a defined piece of work.

11. Support local research institutes and other local institutions to

build in-country technical capacity.

Roles and responsibilities of technical support users

1. Assume responsibility for:

• defining the areas they seek to strengthen, their own capacity

development needs in line with their organization's strategic plan

and country's national AIDS plan;

• drawing up plans for how to meet these needs, in collaboration with

technical support providers, identifying what support, if any, they

need from providers, including for identifying technical support

needs.

2. Plan for technical support by developing procedures and mechanisms

such as terms of reference, selection and performance criteria,

deliverables, steering committees, etc. to facilitate the timely and

effective implementation of technical support.

3. Actively promote and support the use of local technical support

providers, particularly people living with HIV and representatives of

key populations at higher risk, including by prioritizing their

capacity-building.

4. Where reasonable, foster competitive tender processes for

technical support.

5. Provide opportunities and incentives for organizational staff of

technical support users to build their capacity and use the skills

gained.

6. Document and make available, where appropriate, the results of

technical support to the local communities in which the support is

provided.

7. Follow up and implement recommendations resulting from technical

support as appropriate.

8. Review technical support policies and procedures and align them

with the principles above.

9. Assign a technical support focal point, who ensures that the

technical support team has access to the people, space and leadership

support needed to assist with change.

10. Assess, articulate and cost capacity-building needs and

anticipated technical support activities in funding proposals.

11. Provide feedback to technical support providers on whether the

support provided has met expectations and how it may be improved in

the future.

http://data.unaids.org/pub/Manual/2008/gist_technical_support_poster_e

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