Amsterdam — As the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) rapidly transitions to its New Funding Model (NFM), the Communities Living with HIV, TB and affected by Malaria Delegation (Communities Delegation) supported by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) convened a consultation on 25th and 26th January 2013 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Key representatives from national, regional and international networks of communities living with and/or affected by the three diseases discussed key concerns, identified opportunities, and reaffirmed the critical role that communities continue to play in Global Fund processes to ensure that investment focuses on the right interventions for the populations.

Representatives at the consultation identified a number of areas the Global Fund must prioritise as the transition to the NFM progresses. Five aspects of the transition phase and the roll out of the NFM are critical to communities: Communities' role in Monitoring, Watchdog and Validation; Community Dialogue Platforms; Roles and Responsibilities in the NFM; implementation and integration of Community Systems Strengthening (CSS), Human Rights, Gender Equality, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI); and Communication.

"The new Funding Model presents a host of new entry points for communities affected by the three diseases to engage and meaningfully participate - both at the national level and globally," says Anna Zackowicz, co-chair of GNP+. "The capacity and expertise of our constituencies must be an integral component of making the New Funding Model work and scaling up the successes we have seen in HIV, TB and Malaria."

"Communities living with and affected by the three diseases have been at the forefront of defining effective responses nationally, regionally, and internationally," says Shaun Mellors, Board Member of the Communities Delegation. "The crucial role of ensuring that the NFM responds to the needs of those most affected needs to be fulfilled by communities that are supported with the appropriate financial and technical support."

"You are essential to what we do," says Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. "We need your active role in creating, building and sustaining the movement that we need to defeat AIDS, TB and malaria. This year, we need you to help us monitor and implement the NFM, which will better support health and community workers who treat and prevent the three diseases. It will also better advocate human rights in the response to the three diseases. Partnerships are what make the Global Fund effective. In that sense, we are all the Global Fund."

Conclusions from the Communities Consultation will feed into and inform further Global Fund discussions on the New Funding Model, such as the Partner Consultations, taking place on 30 - 31 January 2013, and the forthcoming "New Funding Model and Country Support" workshop organised by the Global Fund.