United Republic of Tanzania, (URT)

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UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA 
PRESIDENT’S OFFICE 
 
Telex: “RALG”     
Telephone number: 026 
2321607/2321599 
(Government of 
Tanzania Emblem) 
Regional Administration 
and Local Government 
Fax: 026 2322116/42246 
 
  P. O. Box 1923 
Dodoma 
 
When responding, please refer to: 
 
Reference #: RALG-C/L.50            8
th January 2003 
 
 
GUIDELINES FOR FORMING AIDS COMMITTEES AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
LEVEL 
 
1.0 Introduction 
It is a well known fact that AIDS is a national catastrophe and that it is a disease 
without a cure that is spreading quickly and killing many and thus affects the health, 
life and economy of the nation. Local governments have been drastically affected by 
this epidemic because their citizens have been affected. Due to this, local 
governments should feel that the responsibility of overcoming AIDS is theirs. 
 
At the General Meeting of the Association of Local Administration of Tanzania (ALAT) 
that was held in the Iringa Municipality on the 13
th of December 2002 representatives 
from the Commission for AIDS Control (TACAIDS) suggested ways in which Councils 
can effectively be involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS one of which was to form 
appropriate committees at various levels of government. The participants of the 
General Meeting endorsed TACAIDS’ suggestions. In accordance with Section 13 of 
the Law that formed the Tanzanian Commission for AIDS  No. 22 of 2001 and the 
Local Government Laws No. 7 and 8 of 1982, the AIDS Control Committees would be 
formed at the level of Sub-village, Village Council, Mtaa, Mji Mdogo, Ward, District, 
Town and City Municipality.  
 
The aim of this document is to begin the process of forming these Committees at the 
different levels of the Council by heeding to the instructions of this document.   2
 
2.0 Procedures for implementing the activities for the fight 
against AIDS at the Council level 
 
In accordance with Section 107 of Regulation No. 7 of 1982, the Village Council can 
form Permanent Village Committees including specific committees in order to 
improve efficiency of the activities implemented in the village. Furthermore, Section 
74 of Regulation No. 7 of 1982 states that the District Council shall form three 
Permanent Committees, which are: - 
 
a)  Finance, Administration and Planning; 
b)  Education, Health and Water; and 
c)   Economy, Works and Environment. 
 
In accordance with Sub-section (2) of Section 74, the District Council can form other 
permanent committees, exceeding three, and as deemed necessary by the 
concerned Council.  
 
In accordance with Section 42 of Regulation No. 8 of 1982 all urban administration 
excluding the Dar-es-Salaam City Council, can form the following three Committees:  
 
a)  Finance and Administration; 
b)  Economy, Health and Education; and 
c)   City Planning and Environment. 
 
In accordance with Sub-section (2) of Section 42 the Council can form other 
permanent committees, not exceeding three, and as deemed necessary by the 
concerned Council.  
 
Because the issue of AIDS has been stated by the President as being a national 
catastrophe, I am requesting that all Councils form Permanent AIDS Control 
Committees and that all levels below the council form special Committees for AIDS. 
The procedure for forming these Committees is as mentioned below. 
 
3.0 Forming the Committees 
3.1  At the level of the Sub-village 
3.1.1 Organisation 
At the level of the Sub-village a Committee which shall be known as the “Sub-village 
AIDS Committee” should be formed and should consist of the following members: 
a)  The Sub-village chairman, who shall be the “Chairperson”; 
b)  The Secretary of the Sub-village who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)   Three other members of which two shall be women and one man; 
d)  Two religious representatives of which one shall be a Muslim and the other a 
Christian; 
e)  Two representatives from the Youth of which one shall be a girl and the other 
a boy;   3
f)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
g)  One prominent person 
 
3.1.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
3.2  At the level of the Village Council 
At the level of the Village Council a Committee which shall be known as the “Village 
Council AIDS Committee” should be formed and should consist of the following 
members: 
a)  The Village Government Chairperson who shall be the “Chairperson”; 
b)  The Secretary of the Village Government who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  One member from each Sub-village; 
d)  Two members from the Village Council Committee; 
e)  One representative teacher from all the schools in the Village area; 
f)  Two prominent citizens from the Village Council, one woman and one man; 
g)  Two representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
h)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
i)  Experts working within the Village Council; 
j)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and 
one man; 
k)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
3.2.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
3.3  At the level of the Mtaa  
3.3.1  Organisation 
At the level of the Mtaa a Committee which shall be known as the “Mtaa AIDS 
Committee” should be formed and should consist of the following members: 
 
a)  The Mtaa Chairperson who shall be the “Chairperson”; 
b)  The Secretary of the Mtaa who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  One representative teacher from all the schools in the Mtaa area 
d)  Two prominent citizens from the Mtaa, one woman and one man; 
e)  Two representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
f)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
g)  Two members from the Mtaa Committee; 
h)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
i)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
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3.3.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
 
3.4  At the level of the mji mdogo 
3.4.1  Organisation 
At the level of the "mji mdogo" a Committee which shall be known as the “mji mdogo" 
AIDS Committee should be formed and should consist of the following members: 
 
a)  The "mji mdogo" Chairperson who shall be the Chairperson; 
b)  The Executive Officer of the "mji mdogo" who shall be the Secretary; 
c)  Sub-village chairpersons 
d)  Two prominent citizens, one woman and one man; 
e)  Two representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
f)  One representative teacher from all the schools in that "mji mdogo"; 
g)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
h)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
i)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
3.4.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
3.5  At the level of the Ward 
3.5.1  Organisation 
At the level of the Ward a Committee which shall be known as the “Ward AIDS 
Committee” should be formed and should consist of the following members: 
 
a)  His/Her Excellency, the Ward Councillor who shall be the “Chairperson”; 
b)  The Ward Executive Officer who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  Two prominent citizens from the Ward, one woman and one man; 
d)  Two representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
e)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
f)  Two members from the Ward Development Committee 
g)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
h)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
3.5.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
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3.6  At the level of the District 
3.6.1  Organisation 
At the level of the District Council a Committee which shall be known as the “District 
Council AIDS Committee”.  
 
3.6.1.1 Members 
a)  The District Chief Executive who shall be the ”Chairperson”; 
b)  The District Executive Director who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  Elected Members of Parliament from constituencies within the District Council; 
and 
d)  Two Ward Councillors selected by the District Council, one woman and one 
man. 
 
3.6.1.1 Invitees 
 
a)  AIDS coordinator (under Section 4.0); 
b)  Representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
c)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
d)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
e)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
3.6.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
3.7  At the level of the Town Council 
3.7.1  Organisation 
At the level of the Town Council a Committee which shall be known as the “Town 
Council AIDS Committee”.  
 
3.7.1.1 Members 
a)  The Town Executive Chairman who shall be the ”Chairperson”; 
b)  The Town Executive Director who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  Elected Members of Parliament from constituencies within the Urban Council; 
and 
d)  Two Ward Councillors selected by the Urban Council, one woman and one 
man. 
 
3.7.1.2 Invitees 
 
a)  AIDS coordinator (under Section 4.0); 
b)  Two representatives from the Youth, one female and one male;   6
c)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
d)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
e)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
3.7.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
3.8  At the level of the Municipal Council 
3.8.1  Organisation 
At the level of the District Council a Committee which shall be known as the 
“Municipal Council AIDS Committee”.  
 
3.8.1.1 Members 
a)  The Deputy Mayor of the Municipal Council who shall be the ”Chairperson”; 
b)  The Municipal Council Director who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  All elected Members of Parliament from constituencies within the Municipal 
Council; and 
d)  Two Ward Councillors selected by the Municipal Council, one woman and one 
man. 
 
3.8.1.2 Invitees 
 
a)  AIDS coordinator (under Section 4.0); 
b)  Representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
c)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
d)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
e)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
3.6.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
3.9  At the level of the City Council 
3.9.1  Organisation 
At the level of the City Council and with exception only for the City of Dar-es-Salaam 
which will not be involved in this process, a Committee which shall be known as the 
“City Council AIDS Committee”.  
 
3.9.1.1 Members 
a)  The Deputy Mayor who shall be the ”Chairperson”;   7
b)  The District Executive Director who shall be the “Secretary”; 
c)  All elected Members of Parliament from constituencies within the City Council; 
and 
d)  Two Ward Councillors selected by the City Council, one woman and one man. 
 
3.9.1.2 Invitees 
 
a)  AIDS coordinator (under Section 4.0); 
b)  Representatives from the Youth, one female and one male; 
c)  Two religious representatives, one Muslim and one Christian; 
d)  Two representatives from people living with HIV/AIDS, one woman and one 
man; 
e)  A representative from the Network of Non-governmental Organisations that 
are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
3.9.2 Meetings 
The Committee will meet once per month. 
 
4.0 Selecting the AIDS Coordinator 
In order to initiate a unique force in the process of the battle against AIDS it has been 
requested that an expert be selected at the level of the District, Town, Municipality 
and City to document all AIDS activities. Due to the fact that AIDS is a social rather 
than a sectoral problem, it is being requested that the AIDS Coordinator be someone 
who is knowledgeable on social issues and who, in fact, deals with Social 
Development. 
 
5.0 The responsibilities of the AIDS Committees 
The responsibilities of the AIDS Committees shall be as follows: 
 
a)  To bring together various stakeholders from the concerned areas so as to 
increase the input of ideas and/or strategies, management, documentation 
and implementation of the work of the Commission for AIDS Control;  
b)  To oversee the process of forming all the AIDS control committees; 
c)   To recommend and to analyse the state of HIV/AIDS plans and their 
implementation as well as to quickly realise them at the respective levels;  
d)  To evaluate the state of AIDS in his/her area: 
i.  The number of those affected: those sick, orphans and widowed; 
ii.  The rate of infection; 
iii.  Specific environments that contribute towards infection; 
iv.  The understanding of the citizens in relation to the epidemic. 
 
e)  To evaluate stakeholder activities on the issue of AIDS:  
i.  Non-governmental Organisations (their capabilities and interests); 
ii.  Religious Organisations (their capabilities and interests); 
iii.  Government Organisations (their capabilities and interests); 
iv.  Int ernational Organisations (their capabilities and interests). 
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f)  To develop together with the citizens and other stakeholders plans concerning: 
i.  The fight against AIDS infection; 
ii.  Increasing the peoples understanding of AIDS; 
iii.  To obtain and keep statistics of: the state of AIDS, the economic status of 
those affected by AIDS. 
 
g)  To document, follow up on and to evaluate the implantation of activities of the 
respective plans; 
h)  To search for working implements; 
i)  To advice to respective levels on the policies or by-laws concerned with AIDS 
control. 
 
6.0 Other general instructions 
a)  The Chief Executive at every level shall have the responsibility of documenting 
and providing information on implementation. The main person responsible for 
all the information of the larger area is the Executive Director of the District, 
Town, Municipality or City. 
b)  The flow of funds or other resources shall follow the procedure currently used 
at the Councils; 
c)  The Councils shall present plans on AIDS control that have been approved by 
the Council of Ward Councillors, the President’s Office TAMISENI and 
TACAIDS. Information on implementation should be prepared every quarter of 
the year and presented to the President’s Office TAMISEMI and TACAIDS; 
d)  The Councils will need to have the enhanced capacity and knowledge on 
AIDS control in their areas; 
e)  The Government will not provide finance to Councils that do not have specific 
plans for AIDS control. 
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7.0 Conclusion 
It is being emphasised that the battle against the AIDS epidemic is one of the 
necessary and primary responsibilities for all Local Governments. Due to the fact that 
the Councils cannot maintain peace and tranquillity, or undertake sustainable 
development without combating AIDS, it is most necessary that the epidemic is 
fought out by all means possible. It is the expectation of this Ministry that you will take 
on this responsibility with fervour and with the required dedication. 
 
D. M. S. Mmari 
Permanent Secretary 
  
Cc: 
Regional Administrative Secretaries 
TANZANIA MAINLAND 
 
District Commissioners 
 
Executive Officers of Small Towns 
Small Town Administration 
KIBAHA and KOROGWE 
 
Executive Chairman (Mwenyekiti Mtendaji) 
Commission for AIDS Control 
DAR ES SALAAM 
 
Permanent Secretary 
Association of Local Government Tanzania 
DODOMA 
 

Guidelines for Forming AIDS Committees at Local Government Level

http://ihi.eprints.org/428/1/ihi_(40).pdf

Guidelines for Forming AIDS Committees at Local Government Level

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