Also available in: Español

New phase of the LAC Platform (Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Platform for Support, Coordination and Communication of Civil Society and Communities)

Dear colleagues,

This issue represents the beginning of a new work cycle in the LAC Platform. As you may know, VIA LIBRE and its Regional Technical Assistance Centre for Latin America & the Caribbean will have once again the honor to implement this important initiative for our region from December 2017 to April 2020.

Since the start of the first stage last year, several events have taken place regarding the responses to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in our region, and the introduction of the Global Fund Sustainability, Transition and Co-financing Policy was among the most relevant ones. This policy made us rethink how to finance those responses in Latin America and the Caribbean in the future. It has also forced us to innovate from the community to advocate for those responses not to stop once the Global Fund’s coverage is withdrawn.

During the previous stage, we have made significant coordination efforts, such as the two regional meetings (in Lima and Bogota) we organized. They allowed us to have valuable forums for discussion and analysis in which we, as civil society–together with our partners–outlined work methods to be better prepared to face the challenges of transition and sustainability. This line of work will continue, and in 2018 and 2019 we will organize meetings for coordination and joint dialogue similar to the previous ones to reinforce best practices and collect lessons learned. Among the latter is the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean have two sub-regions with very different realities which must be addressed in a specific manner. Therefore, our goal in this new phase is to improve our efforts in the Caribbean.

One of the most relevant aspects of the first stage was our contribution to the coordination of technical assistance provision to communities from eligible countries participating in the different Global Fund processes. We conducted studies to understand the access and efficacy of technical assistance services better and we contributed to improve the understanding of the role played in this aspect by the Global Fund’s Community, Rights and Gender Strategic Initiative (CRG). For this second stage, new ways to access technical assistance have been planned based on the CRG, and the LAC Platform will continue facilitating this support through its communication and support channels.

Finally, we have reviewed the different components of our communication strategy and have established new spaces for this cycle. We will continue collecting and disseminating key documents and news, as well as technical support, financing and capacity-building opportunities using our social media accounts, our information system by subscription and our newsletter. New formats have been planned for discussion forums and there will be new spaces for dialogue.

We would like to thank you for being part of this community in which civil society plays the leading role and in which our ideas, initiatives, agenda items, priorities, concerns and actions are at the center of community responses.