At the turn of the century, there was an increasing concern about the lack of results in fighting the hiv and aids epidemic, and a number of international initiatives were launched. Norway has aimed at being in the frontline in these international efforts, and over the last ten years several billion Norwegian kroner have been spent to support the combat of the disease. While during this period a number of reviews and studies have been carried out to monitor the use of Norwegian funds, few independent evaluations have been undertaken to assess this support. It was about time, then, to take a more comprehensive look at the Norwegian efforts to help fighting hiv and aids over the last decade.
The main purpose of the evaluation has not been to feed into a particular process to revise policies, but to ascertain results, fill knowledge gaps and give guidance to enhancing the effectiveness of the Norwegian response to the hiv and aids pandemic. Impact of our efforts can only be measured at country level. In the three countries that are part of this evaluation – Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Malawi – a slight improvement of the prevalence rate is seen for youth between 15 and 24 years of age.
Improvement in knowledge about the disease has increased in two of the three countries, while increased condom use is registered in all three. The report is clear that Norway has contributed positively to the national efforts, in some cases to major achievements with long-term positive impact. The report pictures Norway as a partner that is willing – maybe more than others – to support national leadership in the fight against hiv and aids. This form of support may lead to less visible results, but is likely to lead to greater impact, the report states.
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