CCM Advocacy Project

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum Members!

Civil society organisations have a perception that dealing with

Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM) is very complex,

highly political and challenging. CCM leadership should work towards

strengthening the skills of civil society members so that they can

inclusively participate in decision making processes at the CCM.

This observation has been drawn from a research study " CCM Advocacy

Project " that the India HIV/AIDS Alliance has conducted to access

the meaningful engagement of civil society in Global Fund Country

Coordinating Mechanisms. The research project is a part of the

Treatment Monitoring & Advocacy Project which is home to the Missing

the Target series of reports on AIDS service delivery. The CCM

Advocacy project is working with civil society teams in seven

countries: Argentina, Jamaica, Cambodia, Uganda, Cameroon, Romania,

and India.

This study is an affirmation that India CCM is a robust body

represented by diverse constituencies and that civil society

organisations are an important sector within the CCM. Civil society

organisations have the potential to play an important role in

further strengthening CCM to be able to meet its mandate effectively

as per principles of governance laid down in the TOR.

It is the key responsibility of the civil society representatives to

be aware of the changing needs of the communities (HIV/AIDS, TB and

Malaria). They must be proactive in seeking input from their

constituencies, raise them in CCM meetings with authority and report

back to their respective constituencies. This would enhance their

accountability to the constituencies they represent.

Respondents felt there is an urgent need to have a monitoring and

evaluation process to access the CCM performance against the

recommendations laid out in the guidelines for CCMs and another by

measuring Global Fund activities against the UNGASS targets.

1. What do you think should be the appropriate mechanism in the

country like India to enhance the CCM performance?

2. What are the major capacity building needs of the civil

societies representing CCM in order to enhance their participation

in a meaningful way?

3. What should be improved or changed in civil society

representation on the CCM?

It was observed that Government and the multilateral respondents

largely believe that civil society is treated as an equal partner

but most of the other respondents see civil society representation

as unequal in spirit. It was felt that the present level of

representation of government in the CCM affects the decision making

process.

1. Can you suggest ways in which government representatives on

the CCM could encourage more active civil society participation?

2. Do you want to suggest any model for equitable decision

making in the CCM?

At present, UN agencies are seen as `for government'. These global

agencies can work towards building the technical and managerial

capacities of civil society and continually provide support in such

areas as networking, advocacy and influencing policies.

1. What is expected from the UN / WHO and other global/

bilateral agencies?

In reference to these key findings, we would like to invite your

comments and suggestions. A country report on these findings would

be developed based on your responses. The India HIV/AIDS Alliance

takes the responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of the

responses received through this consultation and we will employ all

necessary mechanisms to do so. Please send in your replies within

one week to help us consolidate the CCM Country Report.

Thanking You

Padma Buggineni

Senior Policy Officer

India HIV/AIDS Alliance

pbuggineni@...