¨With or without the Fund, the response continues.¨ Second Regional Meeting of the LAC Platform

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More than 75 activists and representatives of the Country Coordination Mechanisms (CCMs) in the region vindicated their commitment as civil society to continue working in the response to HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, stating that ¨With or without the Global Fund the response continues¨, claimed the community and civil society of Latin America and the Caribbean at the II Regional Meeting of the LAC Platform held in the city of Bogota, Colombia.

By:           Catherine Calderon
                  Community manager of the LAC Platform

The second regional meeting of the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Platform for the Support, Coordination and Communication of Civil Society and Communities (LAC Platform), was held on May 2 and 3; this initiative was promoted by the CRAT VIA LIBRE, International HIV Alliance and supported by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund).

At the meeting there were several interventions of the GF to support and strengthen community and civil society participation at all levels of its processes. It is a component of the special initiative on Community, Rights and Gender (CRG).

One of the objectives of this second meeting was to report on changes in Global Fund policies and processes and the Strategic Initiative 2017-2019 on Communities, Rights and Gender (CRG), where Paul Bonilla, GF representative, explained the processes and news of how transition will be developed and how countries should be developing processes to achieve it. ¨They always talk about countries but not about networks, how do we make these processes at a region level if there are initiatives like ours, working and executing in many countries with your funds says Elena Reynaga, executive secretary of the Network of Sex Workers in Latin America and the Caribbean (Redtrasex) regarding Bonilla´s comments.

On the other hand, Guiselly Flores director of the Peruvian Network of Women Living with HIV and representative of people living with HIV at the CCM, stated that civil society has always been pro-positive ¨From a very long time, what moves us is indignation, when processes proposed by civil society are hampered and we end up practically begging the government to fulfill its duty¨, she emphasized.

During the first day, the progress and results achieved during the execution of the first phase of the LAC Platform were presented, and there was a chance to also listen to the perception and experience of the community and civil society in the region regarding the inputs that the LAC Platform facilitated for the transition process from the GF.

“It is a historical milestone that sets a new transition where the new activists from now to the future will say how the Global Fund has left us and how the LAC Platform has left us those inputs such as the social dialogues¨ said Julio Aguilar, member of the Network of People living with HIV from Bolivia. In addition, during his intervention he called the colleagues at the meeting to organize themselves and to create strengthening spaces at a Latin American level to demand from the governments the fulfillment of their commitments made during the 15 years that the Global Fund has supported the countries in the region financially and technically.

It is worth noting that, although the support from the Global Fund was fundamental for the response of many of the countries, it also has left lessons learned and opportunities for improvement, for civil society to take an X-ray on how the political agenda should be more relevant and driven from the communities ¨We have to move from protest to action, we should remove the chip that the GF left us and look for the response to these three epidemics that are still affecting our countries¨, highlighted Julio Aguilar.

Likewise, the methodology, experiences and results on the studies on Access, efficacy and innovation of technical assistance in three countries were presented: Bolivia, El Salvador and Dominican Republic, coordinated by Alfredo Mejia and with Gerardo Camacho, Juan Jose Cabrera and Helen Spraos respectively.

Likewise, during the first working day, representatives of people living with HIV in Venezuela, participated to convey the current situation on the health issue in their country, explaining the complications, causes and consequences of the hospital crisis ¨We are dying and this has to be seen beyond a political ideology, it does not matter if we are left or right wing, as the truth is that we are dying due to insensitivity, not only us as people living with HIV, but the whole population¨ reiterated Alberto Nieves during this discussion, which had the purpose to request all the attendees to sign a collective letter urging the Global Fund to provide the necessary aid in terms of access to medicines in that country.

The first day ended with a group work to identify challenges and optimal practices in communications, technical assistance and collaboration in Latin America and the Caribbean within the context of the Global Fund.

Second day of the Regional Meeting of the LAC Platform

The day began with the presentation by Joan Tallada, in charge of coordinating the development of Social Dialogues. He explained the objective and effect expected by using this methodology and its usefulness to favor transition and sustainability processes of the community and civil society responses in the LAC region.

The three countries that were provided with technical assistance to implement the methodology of social dialogues were Belize, Panama and Paraguay, where Martha Carillo, Diego Postigo and Ines Lopez from the mentioned countries, presented the findings and lessons learned. ¨Social dialogues were an opportunity for civil society and communities to reflect on the reality and relevance of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in the country, as well as to learn about transition and sustainability. It was a good experience and the results were excellent¨ said Marta Carillo, Belize consultant.

Carlos Garcia Leon presented the findings and lessons learned from the documentation of best practices in CSOs and community funding in the response to HIV, TB and Malaria in Latin America and The Caribbean. At the same session, Miguel Angel Barriga of the network ¨Somos¨ also presented the findings and lessons learned on the recognition of Community Services type A on Health (SCA) by the health system in Colombia.

At the end of the second stage, the participants reflected and stated that without doubt the path ahead is not to stop working but to look for alternatives such as the LAC Platform that strengthen the capabilities of communities and civil society. ¨These spaces are important to us that come from communities, allowing us to be empowered and to learn what will be done in our countries with the transition¨ said Fernando Chujutalli , CCM Peru.

“The base work performed at the LAC Platform is important, because future generations will have tools to fight and keep on working¨ highlights Alberto Colorado, coordinator of the Tuberculosis Coalition of the Americas. Likewise, Luz Estrada from Peru stated that people affected by tuberculosis need to be empowered to carry out political advocacy ¨We, the people affected by tuberculosis have not been as empowered as the HIV activists¨.

No doubt it was a reflexive and unique space to articulate and strengthen the work at regional level, beyond country level, that is why Odir Miranda director of the Latin American Network of People living with HIV (REDLA+) announced the agreement of the network members to continue as a network looking for the necessary strengthening to face this transition, in addition to look for a more intense and straightforward political agenda.