Last week it was announced that a dramatic cut in U.S. funding to South Africa’s HIV response will likely be reversed, so long as quality of services for people living with HIV is increased. The turnaround is a major victory for people living with HIV in the country, as critical resources will be restored.
In this update, AVAC shares the essential work of civil society groups and activists who are influencing PEPFAR programming for the coming year. Their continuing advocacy led to important wins, gained over the three weeks spent at the Regional Planning Meetings (RPMs) in Johannesburg. Read on for wins from week three.
MPact staff attended every week of the COP Reviews, supporting national-level key populations advocates and working in solidarity with global civil society, fighting to change harmful policies, and pushing for robust budget commitments to gay men and other key populations. Here are the major issues that shaped the dialogue on key populations.
Week two of the COP20 meetings focused on Angola, Botswana, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. AVAC was there, along with civil society partners from the Advocacy Core Team—the Zimbabwe country team from COMPASS as well as GALZ and other activists from Zimbabwe. Here are some highlights, issues and what was won in week two.
Activists in Malawi have outlined a number of community-recommended interventions that would improve the state of the national HIV and TB response, including measures to help people to start and stay on treatment. Two people involved in fighting for these critical changes, Chimwemwe and Alinafe*, are sharing their stories on this photo essay.
Thanks to community-led monitoring in South Africa, we now have the data to back up the stories we have all heard about – early morning queues that last all day long when clinics fail to open on time and then also close early, writes Anele Yawa and Lotti Rutter.
The first week of COP20 meetings focused on PEPFAR countries in West Africa and Ukraine. AVAC was there, along with civil society partners from around the world, to make change in real time. We are there to hear the fresh program data, PEPFAR’s plans for addressing gaps, but most importantly to influence outcomes and plans through the filter of our prevention lens and our partners’ priorities.
George Ayala, MPact Executive Director writes 10 top tips for advocates watchdogging the U.S. 2020 COPs processes.
MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health & Rights advises all LGBT-led community-based organizations, networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and community members to never disclose sexual partners and/or needle-sharing partners to healthcare providers, counselors, or others if you feel this disclosure will put you or them at risk for adverse events.
The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Communities make the difference”, an idea that underpins a new model of community-led clinic monitoring in South Africa — “Ritshidze” has been developed by people living with HIV and activists to hold both the South African government and international donors accountable to improve overall HIV and TB service delivery.