From 27-29 October 2013, nearly 20 individuals with extensive experience on TB advocacy, from 13 countries, met in Paris, in the margins of the Lung Union conference to focus on gender equality and the Global Fund. Nine African countries were represented, as well as participants from Bolivia, India, Kyrgyzstan and Lithuania.
The majority of the participants were TB advocates working primarily at the community level, with grassroots organizations; a large proportion of those advocates are openly living with HIV, and all personally affected by TB. They were joined by representatives from the Global Fund secretariat, the Stop TB Partnership and the GIZ (German) Back-Up initiative. The overarching aim was to strengthen women’s engagement with the Global Fund. The meeting was the second in a series of Women4GF workshops. What follows is the Outcomes Statement from this workshop, which provides a brief action-oriented summary of the results of the participants’ discussions.