• institutional strengthening of the new commission and its secretariat including strategic planning and budgeting;
   
• support for development of new policies within the national response to the epidemic;
   
• developing the district and community response;
   
• mobilizing and coordinating resources from the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria; the World Bank; and other new sources of funding;
   
• developing new mechanisms for funding civil society and government actions on AIDS at all levels;
   
• fostering innovative public-private partnerships within multiple sectors.

M&L is also working to advance Strategy Seven of the Ministry of Health's health sector reform strategy, which fosters public-private partnerships.

MSH support enabled TACAIDS to gain approval from the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria of an $87 million proposal for integrating care and support for TB and HIV/AIDS in 45 districts over five years. MSH also contributed to design of the Community AIDS Response Fund portion of the World Bank's $65 million Tanzania Multisectoral AIDS Project (TMAP).

MSH support for resource mobilization and strategic planning helped TACAIDS win approval of its first three-year government budget for $4.5 million. MSH is now extending technical assistance to ten government ministries for mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into their government work plans.

M&L took a lead role in developing the Rapid Funding Envelope (RFE) for HIV/AIDS, a new funding mechanism that streamlines often cumbersome funding processes. As of November, 2003, the RFE has completed three rounds of grant making and approved $3.5 million in funds to 23 grass-roots organizations that provide urgently needed services in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Successful implementation of the Rapid Funding Envelope for HIV/AIDS (RFE) has filled a gap in existing funding opportunities for civil society partners at the national and regional level, who provide leadership standards, prototypes, best practices, and quality materials. RFE projects will accelerate the transition toward the longer term funding options provided by the World Bank and the Global Fund.

The RFE serves as a model for donors, who can create synergy by pooling modest amounts of funding for a common purpose. Documentation of the RFE process will allow other USAID field missions to replicate the approach in other countries.

Increasing the involvement of private sector (for-profit) partners in the response to HIV/AIDS should encompass corporate philanthropy and expanded financing of prevention and treatment programs for workers and their families. This work will be useful for TACAIDS and for the Ministry of Labor, and for USAID/Tanzania.

Support for other forms of public-private partnership (outside of HIV/AIDS) should help the Ministry of Health expand access to essential services and improve their quality in line with health sector reform goals.