ABSTRACT

As previously noted, by the mid-1990s IDO has decided to provide massive

assistance to local NGOs in the region to fight HIV. The decision has two

objectives: to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic in the region, and to help

improve governance to countries that have just recently received political

independence. The IDO actors in this story – unlike those working in the so-

called Third World – are new to the region, and have not yet acquired what

they consider the necessary know-how to operate there. They are still creating

norms and practices for awide range of aid activities. Although these activities might seem extremely varied, they are rooted in a common approach: the

construction of a shared ethos of good governance. Yet this ethos is still the-

oretical. The actors are being asked to translate it into practice – or more

precisely to invent the necessary practices – for a plethora of themes, including

HIV prevention in the former Soviet Union.