Also available in: Español
On March 14 and 15, a group of experts will meet in Panama to share and discuss experiences of technical assistance in Latin America within the framework of the implementation of the Global Fund projects against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Experts from several countries in the region will meet in Panama on March 14 and 15, with the clear objective of improving the documentation and sharing innovative experiences on technical assistance to civil society and community organizations, within the framework of the Global Fund grants in Latin America and the Caribbean, as key inputs for the processes of implementation of their transition, sustainability and co-funding policy.
Panama will host the meeting to discuss the context of technical assistance within the framework of the Global Fund projects.
The Regional Meeting is organized by the Regional Platform of Latin America and the Caribbean for the support, coordination and communication of civil society and communities (LAC Platform), which is led by the Regional Center of Technical Assistance (CRAT) and the HIV/AIDS International Alliance (the Alliance) and funded by the Global Fund Initiative on Communities, Rights and Gender.
Experiences on technical assistance in Bolivia, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Belize, Panama, Mexico and Colombia, will be shared during the meeting, with the purpose not only to be aware of them, but to analyze them, to look at lessons learned and to identify the challenges in the provision of technical assistance to civil and community-based organizations, that will ensure strengthening and sustainability in the response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, once the projects funded by the Global Fund are closed.
In the last months, the LAC Platform, the CRAT and the Alliance, have supported the identification and collection of technical assistance needs, as well as the discussion work about the role of civil society organization in this transition process. These support processes have contributed to improve the capacity of civil society organizations to participate in the country dialogues and in planning for the transition process in Belize and Paraguay.
In Belize, the exercise was the first of its kind in the country, as the transition and sustainability process had not been yet discussed at the level of civil society and community-based organizations, and it helped these organizations to build a shared view on the changes in the social, political and financial environment; on challenges and opportunities implied for civil society on HIV and tuberculosis.
In the scenario of a transition from the Global Fund, which is getting closer to a new reality regarding funding of the responses to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, it is necessary that all the relevant actors participate in the development of plans required to support and expand the necessary actions to stop the three epidemics. Just as governments will need support to achieve it, civil society organizations as well and there lies the importance of discussing technical assistance experiences and lessons learned from them.
In the coming days, from Corresponsales Clave, in alliance with the LAC Platform, we will share the discussions, findings and documents that result from this meeting, so that other countries can benefit from this learning and start dialogue processes at local and national level to plan their own transition, to identify technical assistance needs and mechanisms that can benefit them in order to ensure the sustainability of the response to the three diseases.
You can also access updates through Facebook and Twitter.
All the articles may be shared and published, as long as the source data is quoted.