1. From nascent to sustainable HIV organizations: a field-based
experience building the capacity of MSM groups in Thailand
Chatwut Wangwon, Jarusri Jiravisitkul, Watcharaphong
Chiacomudom, Siddhi Aryal, and David Dobrowolski
Pact Thailand
Introduction
Pact Thailand, in collaboration with
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MOPH)
- U.S. CDC Collaboration (TUC), developed a
field-based model to strengthen
organizational capacity of three groups
representing and serving Men who have Sex
with Men (MSM). These community-based
groups are located in the South and
Northeast provinces of Thailand, the “hot
spot” areas, border areas and community
areas where HIV prevalence and incidence
is high. Group members are: 1. Young
MSMs who participated in TUC’s HIV
intervention and were subsequently
motivated to form the groups to function as
the hospital volunteers; 2. Community
outreach teams, before becoming
implementing agencies under Global Fund
Round 8. The immediate goal of this model
was to strengthen group cohesion and
increase basic management knowledge,
skills and systems required for the groups
to manage Global Fund projects. However,
the ultimate goal was to develop
autonomous organizations that could
improve their services and become more
sustainable. Nevertheless, external sources
of funding, both for the groups and the
technical assistance, were beyond the scope
of the intervention, making the ultimate
goal also beyond the scope of the
intervention.
Materials and Methods
Interventions for building group capacity
involved a combination of tailored and cross-
cutting training on key projects and group
management topics, distance coaching, and
learning by doing through networking,
sharing and joint skill-building in areas of
immediate, practical concern.
Results
Evaluations using questionnaires, pre-
/post-test and the Most Significant
Change methodology to measure
outputs and outcomes indicate that
short-term objectives related to group
formation and skills-development were
achieved. However, converting the
achievements to reach desired
medium-term outcomes of
organizational formation and
development is largely dependent on
funding and the continued role of the
core leadership team. Although Global
Fund grants were available, they were
sufficient to create the conditions for
the formation of bonafide community-
based organizations.
Conclusions
A project, in itself, does not lead to group or
organization formation. Strategies for
replication of the capacity development
model should consider acceptance and
retention of needed skills and supportive
systems at the organizational and individual
levels against a favorable enabling
environment, including funding, at the
macro level. Key factors needed for CBO
group development in the context of
Thailand are: project and organization
management skills; leadership; group
cohesion; an experience exchange platform;
technical skills/competency; enabling
environment and an optimal mix of funding.
The experience provides an evidence base
that can be used to benchmark these
factors along a continuum of development
leading to future CBO group formation.
Presenting author: Chatwut Wangwon,
cwangwon@pactworld.org