The Stop TB Partnership and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed an agreement on technical cooperation with WHO in May 2014.
The Stop TB Partnership focuses mainly on engaging TB communities early in the Global Fund’s grant process. The Partnership's assistance aims at supporting countries to submit a robust application by ensuring resources are available to enable TB key affected populations' contributions to Global Fund country dialogues and concept note development. Key areas of focus in this engagement are the integration of gender, human rights and community systems strengthening in concept notes. This will in turn increase the country’s chance to ensure that people suffering from TB are at the centre of the funding model and thus increase their chances of receiving funding.
The Stop TB Partnership funds a range of technical cooperation activities that ensure countries and TB communities meaningfully collaborate and engage throughout the stages of developing national strategic plans and concept notes prior to submission to the Global Fund’s technical review panel. (The TRP consists of experts in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, health systems, community systems and cross-cutting development issues. The primary function of the TRP is to review funding requests for technical merit and strategic focus and to make funding recommendations.)
A key implementing partner of the agreement will be the Global Coalition of TB Activists. GCTA is a new coalition that brings national, regional and sub-regional partners focused on TB communities under one umbrella to amplify the voice of TB communities.