Strengthening the role of key and vulnerable populations in relation to HIV, tuberculosis, and/or malaria

Strengthening the role of key and vulnerable populations in relation to HIV, tuberculosis and / or malaria to improve their health and well-being

The integrated and cross-cutting approach to the three pandemics set out in AP-Init-2023-01 and AP-Init-2023-03 complements this call, which strengthens the role of key and vulnerable populations who are often excluded from health systems. This approach reflects a desire to promote working with and alongside vulnerable and key populations, including young girls and women, who currently represent the majority of new HIV infections and are particularly vulnerable to malaria and tuberculosis during pregnancy.

Strengthening the role of key and vulnerable populations in improving their health and wellbeing and ensuring access to appropriate and effective prevention and health promotion measures remains a key challenge in the response to major pandemics. Indeed, incidence, mortality and resistance associated with major pandemics are higher among these populations than in the general population. Against this backdrop, civil society plays a major role in empowering key and vulnerable populations to be meaningful stakeholders. When populations are at the heart of interventions, they play a significant role in improving their own health and wellbeing and in creating a favorable environment in terms of human rights and access to healthcare. This can involve advocacy interventions and delivering health services.

In order to overcome barriers to accessing prevention, healthcare and rights, the Global Fund, the World Health Organization and technical and financial partners recommend that governments adapt their services to the specific needs of these populations and invest in programs that enable better access to health and rights. The best way to achieve this is to involve key and vulnerable populations effectively and qualitatively in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these health services, and in policy and financing decisions that affect them. Ensuring key populations are at the heart of the process makes it possible to develop tailor-made services, which strengthens both the quality and accessibility of these services.

The new Global Fund[1] 2023-2028 strategy focuses on strengthening, supporting and ensuring effective participation of populations with a central aim of collaborating with people and communities and meeting their health needs through three complementary and mutually reinforcing objectives:

• Maximizing People-centered Integrated Systems for Health to Deliver Impact, Resilience and Sustainability.
• Maximizing the Engagement and Leadership of Most Affected Communities to Leave No One Behind.
• Maximizing Health Equity, Gender Equality and Human Rights.                                                

With regard specifically to gender mainstreaming, L’Initiative alongside Expertise France, MEAE and the Global Fund has committed to ensuring cross-cutting integration of gender in all of its activities, particularly in its calls for projects and in the projects it funds[2]. Strengthening health systems can only be achieved in a sustainable way through gender equality and the respect and promotion of human rights.

In line with international conventions[3], the WHO constitution[4] and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ policy document on human rights and development, “A Human Rights-Based Approach to Development Cooperation”, it is also crucial for projects to take a human rights-based approach to project design, implementation and coordination. Projects must ensure that beneficiaries play a central role in their own development[5], and that they promote the implementation of international government obligations to respect, protect and implement human rights. This human rights-based approach must also ensure discrimination is combatted, minorities are respected, that there is equality between women, men, and people who do not adhere to gender norms, and that populations in vulnerable situations are protected, in line with France’s global health strategy.