ASAP currently provides the secretariat for Women4GF which mobilises women to ensure that the world’s most important finance mechanism for HIV, TB and malaria supports programmes that advance gender equality and meets the rights and needs of women and girls. With the Global Fund’s exciting phase of transformation Women4GF works to ensure that gender equality is central to the NFM, and that gender equality advocates participate fully in key processes and decisions, in particular ongoing country dialogues and (pre-) concept note development now that the Global Fund’s NFM delivers finance through new, targeted approaches. In this way there is more hope of the Global Fund supporting effective gender transformative programmes that will make a real dent on the three diseases.

In 2013 ASAP teamed up with global women’s networks (the ATHENA Network & ICW), as well as key UN & technical Partners (notably UNAIDS, UNDP and the Stop TB Partnership) to bring high quality information and inspiration to gender equality advocates working in the countries most affected by HIV, TB and Malaria to help them access funds for their priority programmes.

Under the W4GF umbrella, capacity building workshops have taken place in Geneva, Paris, Bangkok, Cape Town and Jakarta, with further virtual webinars bringing together activists from around the globe. W4GF has also worked in partnership with the sex worker networks APNSW. ASWA & NSWP to bring gender equality perspectives to their work on the Global Fund and Human Rights. This innovative campaign has already reached over 300 grassroots women and girls and their allies in its first year. Women4GF is a space to mobilise more action so that the Global Fund resources go where they are most needed and where they will change lives. Women4GF is designed to make sure that diverse voices are central to the conversation about what the Global Fund does, and where the money is spent, to have the greatest impact in communities. A website, Facebook page and virtual dialogues have been developed to secure an interactive space for women and girls in all their diversity – including transgender women – and men who support gender equality who want to engage with the Global Fund to make sure that programmes on HIV, TB and malaria are gender transformative.

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