Dear Friends, Colleagues and Supporters of Women4GlobalFund (W4GF)
I am Sonal Mehta and I am writing to you as the Chair of the W4GF Steering Group.
We are writing to share news about a leadership change: at the end of July 2022 the W4GF Global Coordinator, Sophie Dilmitis, will step down, after six years. As we take our time to thank and say goodbye to Sophie we are reflecting on our future. We know that change can be sometimes challenging, but we are confident that this is a great opportunity for a new leader to step in, with new ideas and invigorated commitment for the vision for W4GF. We have a strong transition plan in place.
Sophie has built on the work of previous leadership, and together with the W4GF team has been able to bring the organisation to the point where it is a respected entity and a key stakeholder to the Global Fund and country partners.
We are very proud of what we have achieved. Over the years we have:
- Amplified the voices of women working in implementing countries to advocate for Global Fund resources and processes that advance gender equality including with W4GF Advocates, Key Collaborators and National Focal Points.
- Strengthened partnerships with networks of women and girls in all our diversity; technical partners and Global Fund-oriented structures.
- Held the Global Fund accountable on their commitments and promises. We developed an Accountability Framework to ensure women’s’ engagement in Global Fund processes through the implementation phase.
- Engaged and influenced Global Fund policy and influenced the current and future looking Global Fund Strategy (2023 – 2028) and more recently the Global Fund new Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Framework, to ensure the work around gender equality is tracked across the Global Fund’s portfolio.
We have put together this call for a new Global Coordinator. Please kindly take the time to share this with prospective candidates. We have done a great deal, but there is much more to do! The next allocation cycle will be critical, as the Global Fund implements its new Strategy.
Please read more about who we are looking for and how to apply before 4 July 2022. More details on how to apply are in this call for a new Global Coordinator.
In the meantime, we thank Sophie for her tireless work for W4GF. You will be hearing more from us before end July as we celebrate Sophie’s achievements and say farewell.
With thanks, and on behalf of the W4GF Steering Group
Sonal
If you are still here and want to know more about W4GF keep reading…..
W4GF is a movement that unites and mobilises activists to advance gender equality throughout all policies and processes of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), especially through the programmes funded at national level in implementing countries. Created and led by women, W4GF is a key space for women and girls in all their diversity focusing on the Global Fund, and the impacts it has on the three diseases. At the core of W4GF are more than 350 Advocates from 62 countries.
W4GF focuses primarily on educating and advocating. It uses both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ strategies in its efforts to raise awareness of and attention to critical issues for women (including adolescent girls and young women) within the overall Global Fund environment. This means that it works closely with the Global Fund Secretariat, including its Community, Rights and Gender (CRG) department, and also sometimes pushes the Secretariat or Board to do more, and to do things differently – through letters, policy statements, activist manifestoes and participating in the formal structures and ‘machinery’ of the Global Fund.
W4GF has built a platform and framework for women to learn, share and advocate together for policies, approaches, programmes and funding that can in turn deliver access to the services that respond to the priority needs of women, girls, their families and their communities. Through such work, W4GF aims to make the Global Fund more accessible and practical to all women and girls, as well as more connected with women most in need of the programmes and services supported by the Global Fund, and to make these fit for purpose and relevant to women’s lives.