HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control in Rural Development Enclaves

Under the project, a template was developed for the MOAs between NDOH, local health authorities, and the economic operators. While the objective of this standardization was to accelerate the signing of MOAs, it had, in fact, an opposite result, i.e., with the MOA not considering the local conditions, constraints and needs at the onset, the MOAs were not always satisfactory, causing delays in signing. Sector level lessons. On the one hand, working with enclave operators and civil society organizations can, under some circumstances, be a cost-effective option to expand and improve health services delivery in rural areas. The project provided useful information on how to engage with the private sector (i.e., economic operators and not-for-profit civil society organizations, especially the churches in PNG). On the other hand, while the NDOH enthusiastically supported a partnership with the economic operators in the rural development enclaves, there appeared to have been a lack of project ownership by the local provincial and district authorities, at least at the beginning of the project. With decentralization, it is important to confirm the local governments’ representatives’ involvement in project preparation and their commitment.