First, review the following tools in the Handbook:

• Tools 1.1-1.6 Leadership and Teambuilding (pages 35-42)
• Tools 3.1-3.3 Developing a Local Government HIV/AIDS Response Strategy: Internal Policy (pagees 74-77)

Assignment 2: Managing an HIV/AIDS response at any level requires committed leadership and management. In the previous exercise (Assignment 1), you have identified some of the strengths and weaknesses that may exist in the areas of leadership and management of an HIV/AIDS Response. Based on your findings from the previous exercises and using Tools 1.5 and 1.6, describe how an HIV/AIDS Task Team and Workplace Policy sub-team might look in your local authority.

• Develop a hypothetical HIV/AIDS Task Team and Workplace Policy Sub-Team. List what departments members will be drawn from. How will the team represent the community? (will NGOs be involved-which ones?) Identify how these individuals will report their activities (to the Mayor? the Town Clerk? a senior management committee?)
• Write a brief description of how the team would function and what their activities for the next 6 months might be.

Some issues to consider: You may already have such a team, or you may have individuals already working on certain issues. You may wish to start with a Workplace Policy Team and then build a larger Task Team after the Workplace Policy is in place. How many people should be on the team? How much time should they be asked to spend on this issue? Who would they report to?

This exercise is an opportunity for you to explore the above issues and ask questions. While this is simply an exercise, it can be useful in starting discussions about how the local authority may wish to start committing itself to addressing HIV/AIDS.

Assignment 2.1: For many local government authorities, an excellent way to start addressing HIV/AIDS is to start with the workplace. Using Tool 3.1, conduct and report on the following:

• Gather all background information on any existing workplace policies and/or national guidelines.
• Identify members of a Workplace Policy Sub-Team (Assignment 2)
• Using Tool 3.3 as a template: Draft a Workplace Policy.
  

For each of the following areas of intervention, identify 3 priority areas and proposed activities. (Tool 4.2 on page 88 provides a useful implementation chart that can be used to facilitate this process).

• Coordination and Management
• Prevention
• Care and Support

Presentation on these assignments might include:

• An overview of how the local government authority proposes to develop an HIV/AIDS Task Team and Workplace Policy Sub-Team. Is this team in place? How was this accomplished?
  
• A brief presentation of the Draft Workplace Policy- with emphasis on the priority areas and proposed activities.
  
• An outline of how to get feedback from the staff on the Policy, and what their timeline is for having the process completed.
  
• Any questions or obstacles that may have been encountered during the process.