Community Systems & Responses

The role of community systems

Communities are not just users of services. They offer valuable experience, expertise and leadership in governance, implementation and oversight over Global Fund-supported programs. Communities expand the reach and uptake of services far beyond formal health facilities and empower people to advocate for their rights while holding governments accountable. Community organizations and networks have an indispensable role to play in improving equitable access to quality services and in contributing to comprehensive health care. Community responses are diverse, dynamic and highly contextual. They have a unique ability to:

• Identify and quickly respond to people’s needs and concerns
• Reach and mobilize people – including those who are most vulnerable and affected by HIV, TB and malaria
• Effectively manage, deliver and scale up treatment, care and support services
• Monitor access to appropriate services and ensure program quality
• Advocate for an enabling environment and programming to reduce human rights and gender-related barriers to accessing services

Investing in community systems

Countries submitting funding requests to the Global Fund are encouraged to describe how community-based organizations will be involved in programs. Involvement should include delivering services and monitoring the quality and performance of the services provided. Wherever possible, the Global Fund aims to open new opportunities to support community-based organizations. That goal includes allowing implementers of Global Fund grants to fund small, unregistered organizations or collectives that serve key populations and other marginalized groups.

Countries have been able to seek funds for community systems strengthening since 2007. The Global Fund Strategy 2017-2022 provides a stronger strategic focus on strengthening community systems and responses within disease-specific funding, and as part of resilient and sustainable systems for health. Applicants for Global Fund grants should provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of community systems that support specific community responses. They should also identify measures to address those weaknesses. In addition, applicants are encouraged to allocate funding to specific initiatives such as:

• Community-based monitoring to improve accessibility, responsiveness and quality of services
• Community-led advocacy
• Social mobilization, building community linkages, collaboration and coordination between communities and other health actors
• Institutional capacity building, planning and leadership development

These types of investments are critical to improving the impact of programs that serve key, vulnerable and excluded populations. Enabling communities to be involved in monitoring and advocacy enhances their ability to engage with service providers and decision makers to express their needs, and to ensure that services and activities are appropriately designed and delivered.

Support for community responses and systems

The Global Fund’s approach to community systems and responses acknowledges the complex nature of interactions that exist between communities and the formal health sector. The Global Fund also recognizes that community systems and responses remain under prioritized and under resourced and that more needs to be done to incorporate community systems and responses into national disease and community health plans to achieve better outcomes for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria while strengthening health security and leveraging broader health gains.

To ensure our investments strengthen community systems and responses, the Global Fund is investing US$15 million in efforts to support civil society and community organizations to meaningfully engage in the Global Fund processes during the 2017-2019 period. Such efforts include: country dialogue, funding request development, grant-making and grant implementation. These funds are provided through the Global Fund’s Community, Rights and Gender Technical Assistance Program.