Sharing PAI's Voices
Engaging African Civil Society for a Better Future: An Interview with Friends of the Global Fund Africa
In 2007, PAI began a partnership with Friends of the Global Fund Africa, based in Lagos, Nigeria, on the Mobilizing for RH-HIV Integration Initiative . The Initiative, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, works to increase resources from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) for the integration of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health services and supplies. Through this successful partnership, we have achieved over $100 million in new funding for such efforts and built significant capacity among African civil society organizations.
By: Friends of the Global Fund Africa
Lagos, Nigeria
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| Image (c) Friends of the Global Fund Africa |
Q: When did Friends Africa start working with PAI?
A: Friends Africa started working with PAI in 2007 as part of the Mobilizing for RH-HIV Integration Initiative.
Q: In a few sentences, tell us about Friends Africa.
A: Friends Africa is a Pan-African organization that works to support the fight against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through multi-sectoral advocacy, documentation, capacity building and education. Friends Africa’s vision is to see an African continent free of these three pandemics.
Our objectives are achieved through projects funded by partners in the governments, private sector and the public sector. An example of an interesting project is the “What the Global Fund means to Africans” publication which saw the production of a 2nd edition in the first quarter of 2009. You can visit this link to download the publication – http://www.friends-africa.org/
Q: What would you say is the biggest impact achieved with support from the financial and technical partnership with PAI?
A: We have been able to leverage on our partnership with PAI to achieve one of our major goals, which is advocacy for HIV/AIDS.
Q: How has the partnership with PAI helped you leverage new opportunities or resources for your organization? For the field? For the region and/or continent?
A: The partnership with PAI has enabled Friends Africa to establish a Technical Assistance (TA) hub and oversee technical support for Reproductive Health (RH) and HIV/AIDS integration in a project spanning 10 African countries. The TA hub was utilized by Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ghana, and Nigeria, which provided consultants for proposal development in Global Fund Round 8 and Round 9. As a result of our support, two of those countries have been successful with their Global Fund HIV proposal – Ghana and Burundi were approved in the Global Fund Round 8 process and will receive $258,963,886 for HIV and RH combined. Through this grant, Friends Africa has strengthened and built the capacity of African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that work in RH and HIV/AIDS.
Q: What do you think are the biggest benefits of partnership with PAI?
A: The partnership with PAI has helped Friends Africa to achieve our organizational goals such as advocacy for HIV/AIDS in the global community, providing support to African CSOs in the development and submission of quality proposals submitted to the Global Fund and creating networking opportunities for African CSOs who are working in HIV/AIDS and RH and linking them with similar northern CSOs.
Q: As of now, which of your initiatives need funding and what are the anticipated outcomes of that work?
A : Friends Africa plans to host a 2nd Capacity Building Seminar for Grassroots community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This effort will take into account the ability of those organizations to achieve sustainability in accordance with their countries health plans and strategies. This project will improve the fundraising, grant writing, procurement, project management and project implementation ability for grassroots organizations and give them access to donors they normally would not be able to have direct interface with. Friends Africa will be providing these organizations the necessary tools “to fish for themselves” instead of just providing the “fish” as many well-meaning projects do.
