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Between Self-help and Dependence: Donor Funding and the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Krista Johnson
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Abstract

This article examines funding for HIV/AIDS in South Africa, and the relationship between foreign donors and the South African government. The recognition of the AIDS pandemic as an epochal crisis has led to a proliferation of international and donor organizations now directly involved in the governance, tracking and management of the pandemic in many African countries. In many ways, the heavy donor hand that is increasingly defining the pandemic and the global response to it feeds into a new imperialist logic that subordinates pan-African agendas, masks broader issues of access central to the fight against the pandemic, and strengthens traditional relationships of dependence between wealthy Western nations and poorer African nations. The South African government's relationship with foreign donors, however, has been shaped by its efforts to develop an African response to the pandemic not determined nor primarily funded by foreign aid. This article highlights the positive and negative implications of the sometimes contentious relationship between the South African government and foreign donors, as well as the Africa-centred, self-help agenda it pursues, highlighting the opportunities as well as challenges for African governments to define the global response to the pandemic.

Cet article examine le financement de la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA en Afrique du Sud, et la relation entre les bailleurs de fonds étrangers et le gouvernement sud-africain. La reconnaissance de la pandémie du SIDA en tant que crise époquale a conduit à une prolifération d'organisations internationales et bailleurs de fonds aujourd'hui directement impliqués dans la gouvernance, le suivi et la gestion de la pandémie dans de nombreux pays africains. À plusieurs égards, le poids des bailleurs de fonds qui définit de plus en plus la pandémie et la réponse globale qui lui est donnée s'inscrit dans une nouvelle logique impérialiste qui subordonne les programmes panafricains, masque des questions plus larges d'accès qui sont au centre de la lutte contre la pandémie, et renforce les relations traditionnelles de dépendance entre les nations occidentales riches et les nations africaines pauvres. Cependant, la relation qu'entretient le gouvernement sud-africain avec les bailleurs de fonds étrangers a été façonnée par ses efforts d'élaborer une réponse africaine à la pandémie qui ne soit pas déterminée ni essentiellement financée par l'aide étrangère. Cet article met en lumière les implications positives et négatives de la relation parfois difficile entre le gouvernement sud-africain et les bailleurs de fonds étrangers, ainsi que les objectifs d'entraide axés sur l'Afrique qu'il poursuit, en soulignant les opportunités et les défis qui se posent aux gouvernements africains pour définir la réponse globale à la pandémie.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 78 , Issue 4 , November 2008 , pp. 496 - 517
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2008

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