Paper short abstract:

This paper critically discusses the dynamics of participation of some Ethiopian traditional self-help associations and the resistance of others to the project Home and Community Palliative Care for HIV-Positive People in Gondar, under the sponsorship of Family Health International (FHI).

Paper long abstract:

Since the beginning of 2000s we have observed a significant increase in global funding for health and new forms of partnership between civil society, international organizations and private foundations - transcending in a first instance the nation-state. Such financial support is basically due to the inflow of aid for vertical programs fighting against infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and more particularly HIV/AIDS. However, the level of financial aid and other resources that have been invested in HIV/AIDS mass treatment programs have stirred debate among scholars (England 2007; 2008; Forman 2011; Moatti 2011). This paper argues that the implementation of epidemic management policies have strongly contributed to the formation of the state (Berman & Lonsdale 1992) in terms of "governmentality" (Foucault 1978). The fighting strategies against HIV/AIDS have triggered the formation of a public and social sphere of action in which different actors articulated the functions and powers of the state in different ways.

We analyze the project set up by a coalition of different self-help associations under the sponsorship of FHI in Gondar by taking into consideration the complex context of various local and international actors involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We highlight particularly how the participation of some self-help associations (əddər, sänbäte), and the resistance of others (ǧäm'əya) to the project, are subjected to their links and forms of cooperation already existing within the city's administrative structure.