GFAN - Africa - WACI Health

The Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) was established in 2011 to unite voices and efforts from all over the world to support a fully funded Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Hosted by WACI Health in Nairobi, Kenya, GFAN Africa has built a continent – wide social movement that demands health for all by recruiting, connecting and mobilizing advocates to communicate the urgent need for successful replenishments of the Global Fund. Informed by the Global Fund investment cases, GFAN Africa membership reaches out to implementing countries, donors, private sector and foundations to contribute to the Global Fund so that resources which are raised are used to strengthen health systems prevent new infections of HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria and to save lives.

Using the right to health framework, GFAN Africa mobilizes implementing countries to increase their allocation of domestic resources for health to ensure sustainable healthcare financing. To ensure maximum impact, we organize training for our network membership to increase their capacity to develop and implement advocacy strategies for resource mobilization. Additionally, as we mobilize resources, we urge prudent use of the resources for the achievement of universal healthcare coverage so that everyone, everywhere has access to effective and efficient healthcare services. Realizing that health is affected by factors such as climate change, we work in strategic partnerships for maximum impact. Our work aims at making sustained progress towards the 2030 agenda and especially in Sustainable Development Goal 3 on the health and wellbeing for all.

To achieve our ambition for sustainable health financing, at GFAN Africa, we will not relent in elevating and uniting civil society’s voices and action on health advocacy in the Africa region.

Goals

The overall purpose of GFAN Africa is to build a social movement in Africa to demand health for all by recruiting, connecting, and mobilizing advocates to communicate the urgent need and demand for Domestic Resource Mobilization and a successful replenishment of the Global Fund.

Objectives

Support Advocacy and Resource Mobilization – To empower and support GFAN Africa members in developing and implementing advocacy strategies (including working with media) on global health and resource mobilization for the Global Fund

Support Action – To initiate and support powerful action of GFAN Africa members at regional and national level.

Build the movement – To facilitate and expand the membership network in support of the Global Fund, with increased participation from advocates and affected communities in implementing countries, current donor countries and potential new donor countries.

Why is the Global Fund so important?

The Global Fund is the main financier of international efforts against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and has developed a strategy that allow us to see for the first time how we can fundamentally change the course of the epidemics.

Enormous but extremely fragile progress has been made at exactly the time as donors have been scaling back or failing to meet their commitments. This forced the Global Fund to halt funding for new grants in 2011 for almost a year and a half. Aside from funds pledged at the replenishment conferences, significant resource mobilization is still necessary for demand that the Fund cannot fund and for domestic resource mobilization in the fight against the 3 diseases.

Over $50 Billion has been pledged to the Global Fund from both public and private benefactors which has saved the lives of 32 million people who would have died owing to the three epidemics. It has also supported a wide range of care, treatment, and prevention activities; led to the development and strengthening of health systems; and promoted scientific advances.

The Global Fund is financed through cycles in order to identify and obtain predictable, long-term and sustainable financial support; countries, private foundations, corporations and faith-based organizations pledge funding at a replenishment conference hosted every 3 years.

Visit the Global Fund website for more information.