Search for Common Ground-USA on HIV/AIDS Project

While HIV/AIDS is universally acknowledged as an historic scourge deserving of a global strategy, US policy advocates and care providers have so far been unable to create a common front in their response to the disease. In September 2005, Search for Common Ground - USA (Search-USA) launched a consensus process that brought together leading U.S.-based organizations involved in global HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and human rights. Participants represented a broad range of opinions in this field and included secular and faith-based advocacy organizations and service providers. The overall vision of the project was to help transform the currently polarized environment in the HIV/AIDS community to one of increased trust and understanding that would enhance the potential for cooperation.

The objective of the process was to produce specific, long-term action steps that could be endorsed by the HIV/AIDS community at large, thereby breaking some of the deadlocks currently experienced among implementing organizations and policy-makers alike. Potential outputs included joint policy recommendations regarding the President's international HIV/AIDS programs and possible advocacy for those proposals; new partnerships for improving service delivery coordination; and agreement on guiding principles for addressing specific policy issues.

The process was endorsed by Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL). They served as honorary conveners and followed the process with interest. Funding was provided by the United Nations Foundation and the Open Society Institute.

In March 2006, after three meetings of the larger group of organizations, the process was put on hold. Even though consensus was found on a number of general principles (see report), disagreement emerged on how to implement some of these principles as well as on the way forward, with some wanting to push for policy recommendations while others preferred to engage in a more informal dialogue.

While it is disappointing that the group was not able to reach a formal agreement, a survey conducted with a representative sample of participants in June showed that that all interviewed participants felt that there was more common ground among them than people acknowledge. They however also agreed that some stakeholders have a vested interest in keeping the dialogue polarized. Several individuals pointed to the media as a source of instigation of disputes or mischaracterizations and pointed to a stark contrast between implementers in the field and advocates in Washington, DC. They gave anecdotes of collaborative cross-references between faith-based and secular organizations but were unsure of the effect of policy disagreement on the work on the ground. They however all agreed that the sometimes very public disputes among stakeholders could discourage future support and funding.

As a result of the process, 89% of the interviewed participants had formed new relationships with other participants. Although to different degree, 66% said that the process did broaden their perspective on alternate views and all emphasized the importance of dialogue and expressed their commitment to continue their conversation, in one form or another.

Click here to download the Search for Common Ground-USA on HIV/AIDS Project Report

Please click here if you would like to make a donation to support our projects.