About us

Civil Society Consultative Group on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSCGHAN) now Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN) was born in August 2000. The Network was formed during a consultative workshop for CSOs involved in HIV/AIDS work held in Abuja in response to the poor representation and exclusion of civil society from key government policy and decision-making processes on issues of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. The key players behind this formation are ActionAid, Policy Project, Society for Family Health and DFID. The organization was formed with the aim of creating mechanisms for the civil society to engage with other stakeholders and the government in the building of a strong national HIV/AIDS response, recognizing the roles and proximity of the CSOs to grassroots communities. With an initial membership of 74 organizations drawn from 35 states and FCT Abuja, the membership has since grown to over 1000 in a span of five years.

CiSHAN is a National Network of CSOs focused on the prevention and control of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Its membership includes support groups of PLWA, CBOs, NGOs, FBOs, Trade Unions and Traditional Institutions. CiSHAN exists to coordinate, facilitate and advocate to ensure that the needs and issues of CSOs working on HIV/AIDS are addressed and to provide a coordinated and coherent input into the National Response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, of recent due to the poor accessibility of funds by members the network has added to its mandate leveraging of funds.

CISHAN’S AREAS OF OPERATION:  
CiSHAN calls for the following as a necessary and genuine approach to fighting HIV/AIDS in Nigeria :

Research, Documentation and Dissemination  
The provision of resources to and support on research, documentation and dissemination on HIV/AIDS issues as a necessary precursor to scaling up the national response through the provision of relevant and accurate information and the sharing of best practice which should include the broad range of issues around HIV/AIDS and not just health related issues.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Impact Assessment: 
CiSHAN calls for significant capacity building for government, civil society and market actors in enabling adopting and institutionalization of participatory approaches to enable accurate tracking set in the HIV Emergency Action plan and the international development targets, enabling promotion of learning and internalization of the best practices.

Advocacy:  
Advocacy on those issues which builds on the Presidential commitment to ensure EXECUTIVE commitment by Government must be a central plank of a strategy which puts Government in the driving seat for fighting the epidemic while creating space for non-state actors. CiSHAN therefore calls for the mobilization of every sector-state, civil society, market, Individuals, Families, Community groups and institutions for behavioural change, institutional and policy changes necessary for prevention and impact mitigation of HIV/AIDS.

Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Behavioural Change Interventions:  
Women, Man, Boys and Girls must be empowered to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS and live positively with the Virus by ensuring unrestricted access to appropriate information and education that is communicated and with the provision of support mechanisms that enables behavioural change.

Media  
A strategy is being adopted which incorporates sustainable, more creative and innovative approaches and also seeks to sensitize and raise awareness within the media industry itself.

Human Rights, Law and Ethics  
Calls for abolition of violation of fundamental human rights and non-adherence to ethical principles in social, clinical and economic areas of empowerment, which undermines the quality of care, well-being and dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)

Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT)  
Calls for measures aimed at incorporating the benefits of VCT and efficacy of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs as well as education on breast feeding in reducing MTCT and prolonging the quality of life of infected persons, as a basis for prevention, care and support.

Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT)  
VCT must be provided as comprehensive as possible with which should include the provision of training and capacity building for its proper implementation as well as a clear and positive approach to treatment that will make VCT a success.

Care and Support  
Care and support for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS must be a priority and located within the context and emphasis of Positive Living.

Orphan Strategy  
CiSHAN calls for conceptualization of a strategy based on the concept of community management and integration which earmarks funding and other support mechanisms for AIDS orphans.

HIV/AIDS-Related Health System Reforms  
There must be an urgent reform of Nigeria ’s Health Care delivery systems in order to reduce the growth of new infections, and ensure that there is positive treatment for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Poverty Reduction and HIV/AIDS  
Poverty has been identified as a major driving force in the spread of the virus. The epidemic exacerbates and further impoverishes the population; therefore Government of Nigeria needs to engage very seriously the development of an implementable Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Multi-Sectionalism and Institutional Linkages  
The national response to HIV/AIDS should be co-coordinated by a truly multi-sectoral body that has an equitable representation of public, private, civil society sectors including people living with HIV/AIDS.

Civil Society Participation  
Call for the recognition and support to network of civil society organizations, and networks of PLWHA for sustained input into the national response

Capacity Building and Scaling Up the National Response  
Scaling up Reponses to HIV/AIDS is recognized as a national emergency and building the capacity of the coordinating bodies at all levels as well as within Civil Society, Private Sector and PLWHA networks.

Funding & Accountability  
Calls for probity, transparency and accountability through efficient systems of accounting, information systems and participatory systems for reaching consensus on issues to ensure successful implementation of the HIV/AIDS response.

Roles:  
The principal roles of the network are information sharing, advocacy, networking and capacity building.  Coordination is a cross cutting function across the roles identified.

The network is not a project-implementing agency.  This is the responsibility of individual organization based on their activities and needs.  However, the Network will act to facilitate funds being channeled to members for action, which fall within the National Response to HIV/AIDS.

Institutional Linkages/Collaboration   
CiSHAN has representation on the National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (NACA), Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of Global Fund to fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, PEPFAR/GHAIN project and the UN Theme Group.  It was involved in the formulation of the HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan (HEAP), and of resent the NSF, has had close working relationships with UNAIDS, USAID, DFID, Actionaid Nigeria, Family Health International, Society for Family Health, Pathfinder International, ENHANSE Futures Group/Nigeria, FMOH, NASCP, FMWA, FMOE, FMOD and Gede Foundation.