The Global Fund Strategy 2023-2028 places more emphasis on community engagement and puts people and communities at the centre, and this principle should be embedded in one of its key instruments – a Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and to be applied throughout Grant Cycle 7. One of the key principles of the CCM is to engage key populations in its processes in a way that allows their input and voices to be heard. Yet, people who use drugs are still rarely represented in national CCMs, and too often are excluded from decisions and discussions that impact our lives.
The main objective of this report is to assess how this principle works in practice, shed light on drug user engagement in CCMs, and identify approaches to strengthen and support our community in Global Fund-related processes.
To accomplish this goal, INPUD spoke with community leaders in Nepal, Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Costa Rica to showcase their successes and challenges; share tips and advice to support other drug user-led networks in LMICs in engaging with their CCMs; and to identify potential solutions to addressing existing barriers in CCM processes.