W4GF congratulates The Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) in partnership with Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+) on this new resource Voicing Community Interests in the Global Fund as a tool to strengthen active community engagement within Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs).
At national levels, 40 percent of decision-makers in grant committees are women and CCMs now have guidelines for expertise on gender and must strive toward equal representation of men and women in Global Fund-related decision-making.
All CCMs are required to comply with the Guidelines and Requirements for CCMs, which are monitored annually by the Global Fund Secretariat (GFS) and with every new funding request submitted.
Requirement 4 states that: “The Global Fund requires all CCMs to show evidence of membership of people that are both living with and representing people living with HIV, and of people affected* by and representing people affected by Tuberculosis ** and Malaria*** as well as people from and representing Key Affected Populations****, based on epidemiological as well as human rights and gender considerations”.
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“This handbook aims to facilitate the active involvement of PLHIV in the GFATM CCM. It outlines basic values and principles, providing practical information and tools which can be adapted to national contexts. It stresses the ongoing importance of PLHIV led communication, coordination and consultation, so that people most affected by the three diseases can continually make their voices heard and weigh in on important issues. The ultimate goal of PLHIV representation on CCMs is to ensure that GFATM financed programs are efficient, impactful and sustainable”
This tool was designed for communities living with HIV and key populations and provides a practical resource that supports community engagement of people living with HIV through representative consultation so they are meaningfully engaged in Global Fund processes on all levels.
The media release is available here and for additional information contact Omar Syarif at OSyarif@gnpplus.net