Narrative Description of the Project:

The purpose of the study is to identify best practices being implemented by the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) in order to ensure robust civil society involvement, document challenges that the CCM faces, and identify recommendations in order to strengthen the CCM.

Activities: To conduct research to monitor civil society participation in Armenia’s CCM for the Global Fund (GF) to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This CCM monitoring project is designed to evaluate how civil society can have greater impact as an advocate for improved Global Fund programming at the country level, principally through participation CCMs. The project is not focused solely on issues of civil society representation on CCMs, but more broadly on the ability of civil society to have a significant impact on improved Global Fund programming. Issues to be considered include: how civil society members are selected for CCM membership; whether they are able to be meaningfully involved in program design and oversight; to what degree they represent the perspectives of broader civil society and what supports are available to promote more effective civil society engagement in CCMs.

Description of Actual Services Provided by Your Staff:

Research was done by team of sociologists to review CCM documents relevant to civil society participation, including written procedures for the CCM, Terms of Reference for members, CCM minutes, and more general documents about civil society’s role in the GF structure. The research has addressed the following main questions: Is civil society able to have direct impact on improving the quality and effectiveness of Global Fund-supported programs? What are examples of civil society having this impact through CCMs, and what factors made this possible? What can be done to foster civil society’s role as an advocate for improved Global Fund programming through its involvement in the design, monitoring and evaluation of GF programs?

Report has been prepared, with recommendation contributing to a lessons learning process. It will help inform and improve the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s policies regarding country coordinating mechanisms.