BGW Counselling and Social services  Centre According to 2007 the single point estimate by Ministry of Health of Ethiopia and National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, the national adult HIV prevalence and incidence was 2.4% and 0.29% respectively in 2010, a low level generalized epidemic, with an estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV in the country. This prevalence estimate does not, however, tell the full story of the epidemic because the majority of infections occur in urban settings. Urban Adult HIV prevalence and incidence was 7.7% and 2.04% respectively in 2010 with an estimated 62% of total PLHIV in the country residing in urban areas, while rural HIV prevalence was 0.9% in 2010, which accounts for 38% of total PLHIV population in the nation. Among urban settings, the epidemic varies greatly from 2.4% in Somali region to 9.9% in Tigray, 10.7% in Amhara and 10.8% in Afar regions. 

Rural HIV epidemic also varies significantly from region to region with rural HIV prevalence ranging from 0.4% in Somali region to 1.5% in Amhara region. Addis Ababa and four regions: Amhara, Tigray, Oromia, and SNNPR account for 93.4% of the total PLHAs population in the country.  In 2010, at national level, the number of HIV positive pregnant women was estimated to be 90,311 and about 14,276 babies were expected to be born HIV positive. In 2010, there were an estimated 79,871 children less than 15 years’ old living with HIV, out of which 26,053 needed ART. 

In Addis Ababa, in 2010, an estimated of 210,306 people are living with HIV, the prevalence rate being 9.2%.  Besides, there were an estimated of 22,214 new HIV infections and 5,948 annual deaths in 2009. There are 70,097 HIV positive people in need of Antiretroviral Treatment as of 2010. 

The counselling and social service centre was established and run by MMM for more than 17 years before Brother Of Good works took over it in 2010.The centre maintained most of its staff except two top management members that joined from Brother of Good works. Recently, considering the context described above and its  internal strength and weakness,  the centre developed its five year strategic plan(2011-16) with the following objectives:

Strategic Objective 1: To expand the geographic focus of the centre, the target groups and the range of services offered from the centre 
A strong feeling came from staff and other stakeholders that there was need to expand the programme. The SWOT analysis also indicated the need for expansion. The feeling was that the programme has been in Arada sub city only for a long period of time. On the other hand, BGW is in the process of starting the management of a new health centre built by the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa, which presents an opportunity for BGWCSSC to develop HIV and AIDS and other health related activities in the community. As this expansion will use the existing facilities at the health centre and the infrastructure of the BGW, it will not entail additional administrative set up or running costs. 

Strategic Objective 2: To develop an approach of working with the target group so as to empower them to address key challenges that face them

A key element of the mission of the BGW is the need to empower the marginalised groups they work with. Responses from clients and other outside stakeholders indicated that there was a need to move towards a more empowerment model of support. The approach is to move more towards a model of working with the people rather than for the people. Clients will discuss with centre staff and other stakeholders if appropriate in deciding how best to work with the client. The focus will also be on providing information to clients and groups on support that is available, where and how they can access it. It builds on the saying – information is power. Already the Community Based rehabilitation (CBR) programme is using this approach so other programmes can build on their experience.

Strategic Objective 3: To work in a collaborative manner with various stakeholders to enable clients and groups achieve their individual plans
One of the major successes of the last strategic plan was the collaboration built between the centre and the Ministry of Health in the provision of ARTs through Ras Desta Hospital and St Paul’s Hospital. The centre prepares people living with HIV and AIDS and who are suitable for ART and then refers them to the two hospitals for treatment. The centre then follows up those whom they have referred to ensure that they are adhering to their treatment. . To help in this approach, the centre will regularly attend relevant network groups and have a service mapping unit which will:

•	Develop a service map of various organisations and Government ministries; 
•	Prepare a directory based on this map;
•	Provide a copy of the directory to all the relevant staff to use when discussing the stakeholders analysis with clients and groups;
•	Update yearly this directory

Strategic Objective 4: To Generate More Financial Resources Locally
On the average the centre generated 3.8% of income locally over the last three years while the peck year was 2009, which was mainly due to the fact that St Marys Laboratory was part of the centre and a lot of money was generated from the services provided. The St Mary Laboratory was handed back at the end of 2009 to the Daughters of Charity.

It is anticipated that by the end of this strategic plan 10% of income will be generated in country with a short term target of 3% by the end of 2012.