Throughout the funding cycle, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is committed to supporting the meaningful engagement of communities most affected by HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria into Global Fund and relevant national processes. Inclusive and meaningful engagement of community representatives is essential to ensure that Global Fund investments are evidence-based, rights-based, gender- and age-sensitive.
To ensure that representatives of communities affected by the three diseases have a meaningful role in the Global Fund’s work at the national level, the Global Fund Board approved a Special Initiative on Communities, Human Rights and Gender, which was implemented during the period 2014–2016.
In November 2016, the Global Fund Board reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening civil society participation in its processes by approving a new phase of now Communities, Rights and Gender Strategic Initiative with a budget of $15 million over three years. The results of the independent evaluation of the second phase of the CRG Strategic Initiative from 2017 to 2019 are available here (in English). In November 2019, the Global Fund Board extended this Strategic Initiative for an additional three years, allocating $16 million for its implementation.
In November 2022, building on the significant progress made to date, the Global Fund Board approved US$14 million over the period 2023–2025 to support the implementation of the next phase of the Community Engagement Strategic Initiative (CE SI). CE SI consists of the following three complementary components:
- Short–term Technical Assistance Program
Objective: To provide short-term peer-to-peer technical assistance on human rights, gender, community responses, community systems strengthening and other related areas to strengthen the engagement of civil society and communities across the grant cycle and priorities in Global Fund-related processes.
Technical assistance can be requested at any stage of the Global Fund funding cycle: funding request development, grant-making, grant implementation and oversight, including reprogramming. In addition, technical assistance can be requested to support engagement in the development of National Strategic Plans (NSPs) or similar key processes. Within this broader framework, CE SI technical assistance requests should focus on issues related to human rights, gender, equity, key populations, community responses and systems strengthening and related areas.
More information about the Community Engagement (CE) Technical Assistance Program is available here.
- Long-term Capacity Strengthening of key and vulnerable population networks and groups
The work of 12 global-level organizations (6 working on HIV, 5 on TB, and one with a focus on malaria) was supported in early 2024 for a three-year period to strengthen the capacity of key and vulnerable populations and national community-led networks to ensure their meaningful participation in the Global Fund and related national processes.
The partners’ work is focused on achieving the following key outcomes:
1. Communities most affected by HIV, TB and malaria generate and use data to build advocacy and influence decision-making.
2. Communities most affected by HIV, TB and malaria are able to mobilize and hold their representatives in various structures and decision-makers accountable.
The list with contacts of the Component 2 partners is available here.
- Regional Platforms (Learning Hubs)
The Regional Platforms (since 2024 also known as Regional Learning Hubs) in Asia Pacific, Anglophone Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Francophone Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East and North Africa continue enhancing civil society and community coordination and communication.
The primary objective of the CE Regional Platforms is facilitating timely access to information and relevant peer-learning and exchange among communities and civil society to strengthen the leadership and engagement of communities most affected by HIV, TB and malaria in Global Fund and related national processes, throughout the grant cycle.
In particular, the Regional Platforms are expected to contribute to the following CE SI outcomes:
• Communities generate and use data to inform advocacy and decision-making.
• Communities have capacity to mobilize and hold their representatives and decision-makers accountable.
• Communities access timely and relevant Global Fund-related information.
• Communities drive program quality based on adoption of global guidance and sharing best practice.
More information about the EECA Regional Platform you may find here.
More detailed information about the Community Engagement Strategic Initiative and its components can be found on the Global Fund website.
In November 2016 the report on an evaluation conducted during April–October 2016 on the performance of all three components of the Community, Rights and Gender Strategic Initiative (CRG SI), carried out by the Global Fund over a three-year period of 2014-2016, was finalized. This report shares the findings, conclusions and recommendations of an Evaluation of the Community, Rights and Gender (CRG) Strategic Initiative of the Global Fund. The report is available here.
Also, you may access the report on the results of the independent evaluation of the Community, Rights and Gender Strategic Initiative 2017-2019.
