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.