Call for Nominations: Community, Rights and Gender (CRG) Advisory Group

W4GF Advocates Interested?
Please send an email to Rene Bangert (rene.bangert@theglobalfund.org) with your CV and a brief explanation of your background and interest by June 1, 2016.

People invited to participate will be notified by June 10, 2016.

Background
The Community, Rights and Gender (CRG) Department of the Global Fund Secretariat leads the organization’s work in relation to community responses and systems, gender, and human rights, with the aim to support catalytic and transformative actions that place communities affected by the three diseases at the core of the responses to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The CRG Department regularly seeks advice from different constituencies and representative groups, such as organisations of key populations, people living with HIV, and experts in gender and community responses and systems. It also hosts a Human Rights Reference Group (HRRG), which is comprised of outside human rights experts to advise and input on operationalising human rights throughout the Global Fund grant cycle, and a Harm Reduction Working Group to increase the impact of the Global Fund’s investments in harm reduction through technical expertise.

Purpose
The CRG Advisory Group provides a platform for the exchange of ideas and initiatives, and to consult on approaches with regards to the development and implementation of Global Fund strategies and policies related to community responses and systems, key populations, and gender.

The Advisory Group is not an oversight body; rather it aims, via a flexible partnership approach, to ensure consistency and coordination of inputs and dialogue between the various groups that have historically advised the Global Fund on inter-related community, rights and gender related issues.

By bringing parallel and overlapping conversations and advice together in a coherent manner, it is intended that the Advisory Group will increase the impact of the Global Fund’s efforts towards ending AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Advisory Group reports on a regular basis to the Global Fund Secretariat through the CRG Department Head, and relevant updates or recommendations will be presented to the Strategy, Investment and Impact Committee of the Global Fund.

Membership
The Advisory Group consists of up to 18 members, who serve on a voluntary basis for a maximum of three years, with staggered rotation of membership on an annual basis. It is expected that one third of members rotate off each year. The Advisory Group brings together experts on community systems and responses, gender, representatives from key population networks, and from the Communities and NGO delegations to the Global Fund Board, uniting them under one umbrella. A limited number of technical partners participate as observers. Other members, including independent experts, may be identified from outside of these groups in order to address gaps in expertise that may arise on an ad hoc basis.

The Advisory Group should be balanced in terms of geographical representation and gender and should include people living with HIV and affected by TB and malaria, from key populations and young people. Members should be able to contribute in a timely manner while linking to the constituencies or networks they represent. Travel and per diem will be provided by the Global Fund Secretariat for members attending Advisory Group meetings. Members will be expected to bring to the table the perspective of their respective constituencies, as well as consulting with other expert stakeholders as needed, including via time-limited working groups that may be convened.

Responsibilities
Members are sought with the interest and opportunity to engage in email exchanges, occasional teleconferences, and face-to-face meetings. Advisory Group members are expected to provide timely feedback with regard to Global Fund strategies, policies, evaluations and reports relating to Community, Rights and Gender and to respect confidentially whenever their participation exposes them to sensitive or confidential matters, documents and information that has not been otherwise made public. Members should agree to contribute to a number of tasks including, but not limited to:

  • Providing timely advice on Global Fund strategies and policies relating to community, rights and gender;
  • Providing timely advice on the development of materials (e.g. information notes, policy papers, media communications and educational materials) on community, rights and gender; and
  • Sharing information with and ensuring coordination between their respective constituencies, and additional stakeholders as appropriate.

All Advisory Group members are expected to have some experience of the Global Fund at national, regional or global level, as well as a significant understanding of its processes, as no formal training will be provided when they assume their role. Advisory Group members will not make any statements or representations on behalf of the Global Fund, nor will they hold themselves out as authorized representatives of the Global Fund.

Conflict of interest

  1. Advisory Group members shall adhere to the Policy on Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Global Fund Institutions (the “Ethics Policy”), including by completing a Declaration of Interest Form prior to joining, and participating in the discussions of, the Advisory Group (unless they have previously completed this Form in another capacity with the Global Fund within the last 12-months and do not have additional interests or information to declare), and shall further adhere to the practices established here, which give effect to the principles set out in the Ethics Policy.
  1. Under the Ethics policy, a conflict of interest arises when an Advisory Group member participates personally and substantially in a Global Fund matter in which, to his/her knowledge, he/she or an associated person or associated institution has a financial interest, if the particular matter may have a direct and predictable effect on that interest. Members agree to declare any conflict of interest that could constitute a real, potential or apparent conflict of interest with respect to the their involvement in the work of the Advisory Group to the Chair and Co-Chairs , who will in turn inform the Global Fund Ethics Official. This includes conflicts that may arise in the context of relationships between members and (a) commercial entities, (b) sources of funding, (e.g. governments, foundations and corporations); (c) governments; (d) non-governmental or civil society organizations; and (e) partners (e.g., UN agencies, WHO). It is the responsibility of the relevant Advisory Group member to bring to the Chair’s attention any significant link that may give rise to an actual, potential or perceived conflict. Prior to joining, and participating in the discussions of, the Advisory Group, members of the Advisory Group shall be required to sign an acknowledgment of this Terms of Reference, including agreement to be bound by confidentiality and conflict-of-interest obligations with respect to their participation in the Advisory Group.
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