In 1989 a first international meeting of NGOs fighting against AIDS, organized by WHO highlights the need to get organized and provide mutual support. The following year, in Paris, ICASO is created. In 1991, in Florence, the regional secretariats and action programs are implemented: AfriCASO is created and its first general assembly was organized some months later, in December 1991 during the 6^th ICASA. AfriCASO is gradually structured into five networks, each corresponding to a sub-region:

The Regional Secretariat was under the leadership of El Hadj As Sy and was hosted by ENDA Tiers Monde, 4-5, rue Kleber, PO. Box 3370, Dakar, Senegal.
A dynamic exchange and coordination between the above mentioned networks takes place within the Advisory Committee of AfriCASO (CCA), which includes two representatives for each sub-region and a representative of people living with HIV. The CCA supports and directs the Secretariat.

Similar to other parts of the ICASO Global Network, the ambitions of AfriCASO were primarily to promote exchanges of experience and expertise gained by community actors in the African field. The strengthening of those exchanges at the sub-regional, regional and international levels would help to strengthen the role of civil society in the fight against AIDS.
The main activities were:

• Establishment of sub regional networks
• Establishment of a system of regional communication between sub-regional networks
• Contribution to the establishment of national coordination systems
• Publication of a newsletter called AfriCASO News
• Development of links between the ethical and legal networks and NGOs, international agencies and donors and people living with HIV / AIDS. The regional secretariat serving as a focal point for international agencies such as UNAIDS, UNDP, the AIDS Bureau of the European Commission and other donors or partners interested in the community sector. This helped the networks to have technical and financial support.
• In 1992, AfriCASO held in Yaounde the first meeting of the African Council of AIDS Service Organizations during the Seventh International Conference on AIDS in Africa.
• AfriCASO secretariat is frequently consulted on issues, positions and concerns of stakeholders in the community sector in Africa, namely by UNAIDS, in setting new priorities in managing the fight against AIDS.

AfriCASO initial mission was to bring a significant contribution to the community response through networking. From its creation to date, AfriCASO followed a long path that can be described in 3 phases:

1. The period 1991 – 2001

During this first decade of its existence, AfriCASO still encountering serious challenges such as a light structure, a non independent secretariat and a part-time staff, has established its affiliated structures, developed partnerships and brought the voices of African communities in major international forums and meetings. Its secretariat was housed during this long period by one of its member organizations: ENDA Tiers Monde.

2. The period 2001 - 2004:

With an increasingly important role in the community response and the increasing expectations of its members, AfriCASO decided to establish an independent secretariat and initiate a process of transformation and leadership. This process began with a program and financial audit, then the search for a legal status in Senegal, the acquisition of management and governance tools and of a strategic plan, and finally the establishment of governing bodies. This process was led by a facilitator who has been recruited for this purpose.

3. The period 2004 to date

The process of transformation and leadership ended in August 2004 with the establishment of a new team led by Dr. Cheick Tidiane Tall. A new strategic direction has been adopted for 2004-2006 with the following main elements:

• Improvement of the access to care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS;
• Reduction of the trend of the epidemic in the least affected countries and communities and reversal in those with the strongest impact;
• Improvement of the coordination and strengthening of management mechanisms;
• Support to the biomedical and socio-behavioral research;
• Improvement of information management through a well designed and effective system supported at regional and national levels.

New projects have been developed for these guidelines (which have been maintained in the 2008-2012 Strategic Plan with particular emphasis on universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support related to HIV), namely:

• Prevention and Treatment Advocacy Project (PTAP)
• The Project for the Capacity Building of community actors in the implementation of the Three Ones and universal access (RENCAP)
• The Human Rights Project,
• The project for the promotion of the Code of Good Principles for NGOs working on AIDS (Code)
• Civil Society Action Team (CSAT), which is a project of assistance and technical support to CSOs through funding from the Global Fund.

AfriCASO has also implemented and / or participated in many advocacy activities and action researches around the following questions: UNGASS Declaration of Commitment, the Abuja declaration, universal access, resource mobilization for the Global Fund, the Code of Good Practice for NGOs Responding to HIV and AIDS, integration of programs and Policies related to sexual and reproductive health and HIV.

Today AfriCASO has positioned itself as the most credible community network in Africa with 5 affiliated sub-regional networks, a presence in all African countries and a membership of over 3,000 NGOs, CBOs.