11 Leading Ethiopian Companies Commit To Achieving HIV/AIDS Results In 100 Days

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 07 Apr 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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This week marks the beginning of a 100 day timeline for 11 leading Ethiopian companies to achieve HIV/AIDS results within their workplaces.

The 11 companies are participating in a pilot project lead by the Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (EBCA), in partnership with the World Bank Institute and the Rapid Results Institute, to accelerate the achievement of HIV/AIDS results in Ethiopian companies.

Over the last fortnight representatives from the selected companies have participated in orientation, training and launch workshops. The training has offered business leaders new sets of skills and expertise in coaching, team building and achieving measurable results quickly.

Having now set their Rapid Result Goals, the following companies have committed to implementing HIV/AIDS results within their companies. Many of the companies have chosen specifically to focus on the scaling-up of their VCT services.

The following companies are participating in the pilot phase:

-- Aikyd Resin Share Company
-- Akaki Textile Share Company
-- Crown Cork and Can Share Company
-- East African Group Plc
-- Emergency Relief Transport
-- Kaliti Construction
-- Kaliti Metal Factory
-- Mugher Cement
-- Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise
-- Total Ethiopia
-- Wallia Tannery

EBCA staff, who have been trained in the Rapid Results Approach, will ensure the selected companies retain their focus and determination and assist them to reach their identified goals within the time period.

About EBCA

The Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (EBCA) was set up in 2004 when local businesses, concerned about the impact of HIV/AIDS, agreed to launch a collaborative national business coalition. EBCA is a membership body which now helps coordinate and mobilize the business response on HIV/AIDS and other social responsibility issues in Ethiopia. To date it has mobilized over 100 businesses reaching out to more than 40,000 employees and over 150,000 family members.

http://www.ebca-hiv.org

About the Business Against HIV/AIDS Partnership Program

This new HIV/AIDS project builds on EBCA's partnership program with the World Bank Institute which was first launched in 2005, and has since expanded and engaged support from partners, including HAPCO, GTZ, companies, business organizations and NGOs. The overall objectives are to increase the leadership capacity of the business community in national multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS responses and the HIV/AIDS responses of companies in Ethiopia. The program is also a way to build the institutional capacity of EBCA.

Since 2005, the program has made progress in its efforts to transform the business response to HIV/AIDS, promote HIV/AIDS workplace and community outreach program development in companies, and form innovative partnerships with governments and civil society. Technical assistance has consisted of the provision of access to expertise on HIV/AIDS and organizational development, multi-stakeholder consensus building and consultation, exhibitions, localized training, report cards, regional experience-exchange and hands-on assistance to develop resource networks and problem solve on the design of policy, programs and services.

About the Rapid Results Approach

The Rapid Results Approach (RRA) is a way for companies to achieve critically important results within 100 days or less. It can help companies take their most challenging long-term HIV/AIDS projects and restructure them into a series of short-term initiatives that produce real results quickly. RRA is based on the belief that the best way to build capacity is to provide people with real-time support while they work to achieve an ambitious short-term goal that is of critical importance to the organisation. The approach has been used successfully in HIV/AIDS and reproductive health programs in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Madagascar.

About the Rapid Results Institute

The Rapid Results Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering results driven Experimentation, Achievement, and Learning as a way to tackle economic and social challenges in developing countries. It was founded with the support of senior partners at Robert H Schaffer and Associates, based on their highly successful models for change management and results acceleration. The institute is dedicated to transforming the way development work is carried out through a sharper focus on producing early results that strengthen local capacity for sustained progress. http://www.rapidresults.org

http://www.ebca-hiv.org