The Country and Regional Programs department contributes to IAVI’s mission by helping to generate national and international support for AIDS vaccine development, build the technical capacity and infrastructure of collaborating research centers in developing countries and cultivate a social and political environment that is conducive to AIDS vaccine research. Our activities include:

a) Country and Regional Operations:  Managing IAVI's field offices and country-level programs, ensuring coherence of programs across departments and interfacing with local partners and all others involved in,  affected by or interested in AIDS vaccine research and development.

b) Program Activities: Often referred to as "vaccine preparedness," these activities lay the groundwork for vaccine development by building political and financial support for vaccine research among national and global stakeholders, eliciting and sustaining national will and capacity for research and development, and ensuring that research is conducted in a manner that meets the needs of volunteers and communities. These activities include:

• Creating global demand for investment in AIDS vaccine research and development through the systematic engagement of world leaders, policy makers, advocates and the scientific community at the global, regional and national levels
• Mobilizing resources at the country and regional level for vaccine research and future access

Community Support and Building R&D Capacity

• Working with partnering research centers to ensure that the health services, counseling and education that are delivered in conjunction with clinical research are of the highest ethical and quality standards, and that research center staff have the sensitivity, tools and skills to work with socially vulnerable populations
• Facilitating meaningful dialogue and collaboration between researchers and the communities in which vaccine trials are conducted, including support for developing and training Community Advisory Boards
• Supporting social science research to inform the conduct of vaccine research and to help identify potentially suitable cohorts for future large scale trials
• Facilitating the development of partnerships for in-country pre-clinical research