By engaging the widest possible groups of stake holders, the scenario-building project aims to avoid a worse crisis by:

• fostering a shared, deeper understanding of the drivers, impacts and consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa among a wide group of stakeholders;
• enabling a joint exploration by key stakeholders of the implications of HIV/AIDS in Africa in the context of building a set of plausible future scenarios that identify the potential consequences to Africa over a 20-year time horizon;
• informing the policy response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa in order to promote effective, coherent and sustained action;
• catalysing a partnership approach among key stakeholders, including the private sector and nongovernmental organizations;
• helping in shaping public debate by fostering communication and understanding between different parties;
• assisting in effectively targeting and channelling the financial and other resources allocated to preventing and mitigating HIV/AIDS; and
• facilitating the application of the knowledge and capabilities developed during this project to similar processes for other world regions.

The Project will be conducted in an open and inclusive manner, establishing at key stages the opportunity for interaction with a wider set of stakeholders than the immediate participants, including through a web-based connection channel.

The outcomes of the Project will include a report, which will be placed in the public domain and widely disseminated. The report and other outcomes of the scenario-building process may be used by Initiating Partners, funding contributors and other stakeholders in their own endeavours to scale-up the response to HIV/AIDS.