TOOL SHEET 2: FORMULATION & DESIGN

Key questions

• How do intervention strategies address the specific problems faced by HIV/AIDS affected groups? Do they build upon existing opportunities? If so, how?
• What synergies, linkages and partnerships are envisaged with stakeholders working on HIV/AIDS from other sectors (health, education, communication, etc.)?
• How can the impact of the epidemic undermine the assumptions of the proposed interventions? (For example, in a highly HIV/AIDS-affected area, the assumption that training will lead to increased institutional capacity may not be valid, since institutions could suffer from increasing staff attrition due to HIV-related sickness and death. HIV/AIDS may therefore be a risk factor that could jeopardize the success of the project.)
• What is the likelihood that intervention strategies will directly or indirectly aggravate the HIV/AIDS situation? (For instance, will interventions contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS or stigmatize people living with HIV/AIDS? Consider whether project staff are being posted without their families, the effects of increased mobility, decreased access to HIV/AIDS-related information and services, inclusion or exclusion of HIV/AIDS-affected people, etc.)
• Have any activities been proposed by the project or in partnership with local organizations which could assist in counteracting these negative effects?
• How does the institutional framework for project implementation account for the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on institutions? (Consider the loss of staff due to illness, funeral attendance and death, in addition to the loss of institutional memory, increasing costs, etc.)
• What will be the impact of HIV/AIDS on the sustainability of the project? (Consider the impacts on people's vulnerability and resource base, including natural, physical, financial, human, social, infrastructure and policies.)

How to get answers

• Review the intervention planning methodology and/or the "logical framework planning" approach to ensure that the particular food security and nutrition needs of HIV/AIDS-affected households and communities are being addressed.
• Review the project's targeting strategy for possible negative impacts on HIV/AIDS-affected people and households, as well as for measures that will ensure their participation and improve their benefits.
• Review the project's institutional framework to ensure that HIV/AIDS-related human resource constraints are considered, including those affecting local partners and implementing organizations.
• Prepare a scenario to show how proposed interventions may affect the spread of HIV/AIDS, stigmatization and households' ability to cope with consequences of the epidemic. This will also help to reflect on how HIV/AIDS poses a risk to the success of the project.