CCA: HIV/AIDS Initiative: Initiative Activities: CCA Summit: Business Coailtions Workshop 2007

Panelists

Moderator: Mr. Victor Barnes, Director, CCA HIV/AIDS Initiative
Ms. Gail Goodridge, Family Health International, Lifeworks
Mr. Richard Kasesela, CEO, Business Coalition of Tanzania
Mr. Brad Mears, CEO, The South Africa Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
Mr. Cal Bruns, CEO, MatchBoxology

Summary

Mr. Barnes: Business coalitions are meant to harmonize with national priorities, not intended to be stand-alone projects.

Mr. Bruns: Most of what this work entails revolves around the word responsibility; unfortunately responsibility means taxation to the business community. The magic word for the business community is opportunity. This is how Levis has looked at HIV in South Africa—as an opportunity—and is now the first company to have branded HIV testing by partnering with an NGO.

Mr. Mears: Over 400 corporations make up the private sector in South Africa, so SABCOHA members represents only about 10% of the sector;

Four key areas for delivery:

1) using business as a point of leverage in the fight against HIV/AIDS
2) business empowerment
3) working with SMEs along business supply chains
4) internal strength and sustainability

There is a misinformed perception that businesses are wealthy, often this is not the case with SMEs which is why partnerships are so important.

Mr. Kasesela: The workplace policy toolkit has been very useful in Tanzania. Tanzania has an especially high risk in the plantation areas, which presents an opportunity to work with corporations

The Tanzania business coalition has had a difficult time getting CEOs to participate, which poses a huge challenge. Mr. Kasesela notes that Mali has expressed a similar challenge, so how can we get higher level corporate execs on board? Richard proposes that the business coalition community should convince presidents of nations to champion their cause because CEOs are willing to convene if high-level public figures are present. Another challenge for the coalition is financing and sustainability. Companies are reluctant to pay member fees, because they already contribute to employer federations and trade associations. To address this challenge, it is important to communicate to the businesses how membership in the coalition will benefit them financially. Stigma also still poses a great challenge to the coalition’s efforts to mobilize the business community.

Ms. Goodridge: Lifeworks is an FHI project working to create businesses that employ 45 – 200 women each in truck stop “hot spots” in East and Central Africa, which are under-served areas, often times near borders, with high prevalence and high levels of poverty. Job creation is a prevention strategy: a woman employed in a for-profit business receiving living wages empowers that women to be able to act on the AIDS education she has obtained. There is an intensive community driven mobilization approach to the project, which provides sustainability. The initiative is working at the “roots of the grassroots”. What are they hearing in these communities? Alcohol abuse is one of the main factors driving risky behavior; they see job creation as a way to alleviate poverty. General Motors, which serves on the board, helps to provide business assistance to drive the agenda, and Deloitte has provided pro-bono advice on how best to register these companies that are created. These businesses are contributing their core competencies to help FHIbuild and sustain this initiative.

What have they done to date? In Kenya Lifeworks started a company of 35 women making table wear for Ralph Lauren and a mushroom production business. The mushroom business employs 221 caregivers, and by working, these women are able to continue to volunteer. Lifeworks has also set up all-women basket-weaving cooperatives in Rwanda that will source to Macy’s. The project is looking for additional partners, including national business coalitions.

Mr. Barnes: Notes some recurring themes including private sector inertia, resource pooling, and sustainability. Mr. Barnes asks the panelists to discuss some of the following issues: how do we go beyond the initial 10% of the private sector that is already engaged? How do you create an innovative engagement? What are other ways to pool resources? How can you work in conjunction with the public sector to ensure sustainability? What are some options for addressing communication needs?

Mr. Mears: The private sector is not homogenous; one has to be creative, innovative, direct and concrete in getting the private sector to respond. —Governments have not been particularly involved in this area, and business leaders themselves are in denial—only a handful of business leaders see the larger picture. He adds that the influences of business coalitions are directly proportional to the strength of the private sector. Right now coalitions are not sustainable—if funding dried up right now, then membership fees would not cover their costs. Perhaps, an AIDS tax could be leveraged on business or we should search for a way to unlock significant amounts of donor funding.

Mr. Bruns: One of the problems is that companies don’t “see” how HIV is negatively impacting business.

Ms. Goodridge: All companies they have approached have been able to help—the key is to know what you’re looking for, be direct and show them that the project they are contributing to is sustainable.

Mr. Kasesela: Having served as a CEO, he knows how hard it is to justify an expense to the board that might be interpreted as charity.

Mr. Bruns: The Levis project came about in a meeting like the one here at CCA. It was a simple matter of branding a cause, of looking at condoms or AIDS tests as marketing tools; but you have to go the board and be creative in your pitch.

Mr. Barnes/Ms. Hultman (AllAfrica Global Media): The coalition in DRC has been very effective in establishing itself in Kinshasa, but not effective at spreading its message throughout the country due lack of any communication capacity. HealthAfrica, and initiative of AllAfrica Global Media, in partnership with CCA, has established a web-based communication platform for live chat, posting, and information sharing among the various coalition elements in two other regions of the country. We are hoping this will be a model to be replicated throughout the coalitions in Africa.

Question from Ms. Heada (CARE Egypt): Ms. Heada asked about the establishment of business coalitions as a legal entity within a country; what is the process and how could Egypt establish such an entity?

Mr. Mears: SABCOHA is registered as a non-profit, but there’s an important distinction to make and communicate: SABCOHA is a for-profit endeavor with not-for-profit status.

Mr. Kasesela: The most tactical way for Tanzania to engage the government in conjunction with the private sector was to work with UNAIDS, they brought the government to the table.

Dr. DeKorte: Please elaborate on your provocative suggestion of a business tax for HIV/AIDS?

Mr. Mears: Mr. Mears understands the idea is a provocative one, but asks what will it take to move businesses? By and large, corporations are irresponsible, slow to move, and aloof. In terms of racial equality in SA, businesses were unwilling to move on their own, and that is a similar issue with HIV and AIDS.
Dr. DeKorte: Why is Lifeworks focusing its work on woman cooperatives rather than family businesses?

Ms. Goodridge: Lifeworks focuses on woman-headed households and orphans because poverty drives the epidemic. Their preference is not to use a cooperative model, but those are the businesses that are already on the ground.

Ms. Hultman: Can a media platform help to get CEOs involved?

Mr. Kasesela: In Tanzania, the media companies are not yet members, but the coalition is trying to get them on board. CEOs want to see themselves doing well in the media, and the coalition has given awards to CEOS who have completed a “desktop learning” course (the CEOs work through AIDS learning CDs at their desks in their own time to increase knowledge and train CEOs on certain issues). An awards ceremony is conducted and the Prime Minister and President are present.