Joint Statement of the Three Delegations in support of Civil Society's uniquerole in responding to HIV/TB/Malaria in ChinaKunming, China, 16 th Global

November 12, 2007
Having had some extremely valuable formal and informal interactions with a range of China Civil Society and Communities representatives over the last 5 days, the Communities Delegation along with Developed and Developing Country NGOs Delegation would like to strongly recommend to the Global Fund Board that a special attention is given to the need for strengthening Civil Society involvement and participation in the implementation of GF programs in China.

As with all grants there will be challenges in implementation. In particular, in the case of China and the recently-approved round 6, community and grassroots organizations cannot register to be legally recognized as civil society organizations.

We expect that these grassroots organizations, registered or not, should have access to the funds so that the implementation efforts will reflect the desired goal of the proposed program.

We, the members of the three civil society delegations to the Fund feel responsible and accountable to ensure that our counterparts in China are alsoable to access and utilize the opportunities of being a stakeholder in the Global Fund.

We are committed to ensure that the voices and aspirations of all communities living with the diseases in China are heard and that their basic rights, particularly the right to information and services are properly secured.

We expect the Global Fund to take the lead in ensuring its commitment to strengthen capacity building and mobilization of Civil Society across the world, including China, so that our collective goal of containing and reversing the spread of HIV/TB/Malaria is achieved.

We, the three civil society delegations, will continue to proactively engage with Chinese civil society to ensure their key role in the response tothe three diseases is recognized and we will work in close collaboration withall of you until this is achieved.

Communities Delegation
Developed Countries NGO Delegation
Developing Countries NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board
Published at AIDS-ASIA yahoogroups, Tuesday, November 13,2007