OCTOBER 2008 — According to Noerine Kaleeba, UNAIDS Advisor and Founder of TASO Uganda, a new FHI publication, Going to Scale: Lessons Learned by the IMPACT Project on Meeting the Needs of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children, "lays out a foundation for the noble task of saving the lives of millions of children worldwide and freeing them from the devastating consequences of HIV/AIDS."

Author Angela M. Wakhweya, MD, analyzes eight key lessons derived from a decade of field experience of programs for orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) under the FHI-managed Implementing HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care (IMPACT) Project. In each chapter, she lays out specific steps that should be taken to make such programs effective and provides examples drawn from IMPACT OVC programs in 13 countries.

One of the important messages of Going to Scale is that clear, child-focused, family-centered, community-based strategies need to be integrated into all HIV/AIDS programs. OVC programs must be as comprehensive as possible within resource constraints, and they should involve key stakeholders in their planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

Because OVC programs need to sustained by local civil society organizations that are connected and linked through formal and informal networks, the organizational capacities of these local implementing partners and referral networks may need to be strengthened before they can offer a comprehensive set of services. Fledgling civil society organizations may also need subgrants to begin to increase the scope and scale of their services. Simple community-based monitoring and information systems are also vital, as is work toward expanding technical leadership at all levels.