Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity (COMPASS) Africa is a global civil society coalition that uses innovative, data-driven advocacy campaigns to influence HIV policy decisions, programs and funding in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe and at the global level. COMPASS Africa brings together organizations with varied, complementary skills and resources to develop shared approaches to defining and tackling subnational, national, regional and global barriers to effective, comprehensive national responses to HIV.

Overview

Since the advent of the HIV epidemic, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have played a critical role in addressing structural violence and barriers to HIV treatment and prevention through advocacy, activism and serving as government watchdogs. Given their knowledge of the local context, local CSOs are well placed to identify and respond to the needs of their communities.

Their vibrant advocacy and activism have driven solutions by focusing on accountability—making sure that power, funds and policies work for people living with and at risk for HIV. As the HIV response has matured, data-informed decision-making has shaped programs. In the past, access to the data behind these decisions has been limited for civil society activists and advocates. At the same time, civil society organizations have been enlisted as partners by the very funders and programs they must hold accountable, increasing the risks they face when they speak out as activists.

Recent plateaus and declines in foreign aid budgets exacerbate these threats to the sustainability of CSO work.

About

COMPASS is a global civil society coalition that is changing the HIV response through high-impact advocacy campaigns led by civil society organizations representing communities most impacted by HIV.  COMPASS uses data-informed, transnational activism to increase the impact of civil society on HIV-related policies, budgets, programs, and leverage their influence with governments, funders, implementers. The project is led by civil society coalitions in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, working in coalition with global and regional partners to gather and analyze data and other evidence to shape strategic campaigns.

Within the coalition, Pangaea Zimbabwe leads the COMPASS secretariat and manages sub-grants to partners. AVAC works with Pangaea Zimbabwe to provide coordination across partners, geographies and thematic areas. AVAC also advises on partner campaign strategies and tactics and contributes to monitoring and evaluation efforts (M&E) as a member of the COMPASS MERL (monitoring, evaluation, results and learning) team.

COMPASS works via four areas:

• Building the strength and influence of Africa-focused civil society coalitions
• Using data, information and analytics to advocate for comprehensive, effective treatment and primary prevention programs that lead to epidemic control
• Defining priority issues and ambitious change agendas: differentiated service delivery, combination prevention, human resources for health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, key and vulnerable populations, and more
• Strategic innovation: advancing ambitious advocacy agendas via “business unusual”

Impact

Work in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe has and will continue to:

• Improve development, adoption, implementation and evaluation of laws and policies supportive of comprehensive HIV responses that meet the needs of those at high risk of HIV infection or, if living with HIV, progressing to AIDS, including adolescent girls and young women, and key populations
• Increased allocation and improved use of HIV-specific human, financial and technical resources from national governments, development partners like (PEPFAR and GFATM) and/or private sector to critical, effective programs and partners on the frontlines of the HIV response, with a focus on differentiated service delivery models for combined HIV prevention and treatment, achieved where possible through integrated programs
• Improved country, regional and global responses to COVID-19 and health security to secure global equity and community-led action plans
• A coalition that sets the standard for transnational coalition-based, Africa-led activism via African leadership, management and grantmaking

Be Sure to Read

COMPASS Newsletters

COMPASS Campaign Results!

• Issue 1: February 2022
• Issue 2: July 2022
• Issue 3: February 2023

COMPASS MERL Handbook for Advocay

Learn how COMPASS partners approach monitoring, evaluation, results and learning.

People’s COP23 Documents

COMPASS partners lead the development of the People’s COPs in the three COMPASS countries. Annually developed by civil society, these documents outline community priorities for HIV programming and funding. The documents support engagement with PEPFAR, Global Fund and national governments.

• Malawi
• Tanzania
• Zimbabwe

Contact

COMPASS created a learning course on analyzing and using data for advocacy. Contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to access the course content.

The Advocacy Navigator program mobilizes a cohort of ambitious individuals and provides them with resources to build their knowledge, skills and confidence to meaningfully advance HIV prevention advocacy in their communities and countries. Navigators are paired with mentors, alumni of AVAC’s Advocacy Fellows program to provide support and guidance.

2024 Advocacy Navigators

Using training and mentorship from AVAC Fellow Alumni and other seasoned advocates to prepare the next generation of HIV prevention advocates.

Since 2009 with the establishment of the AVAC Advocacy Fellows program, AVAC has recognized the imperative to support HIV prevention advocates globally. They represent a global movement of seasoned veterans and passionate newcomers, who call out neglect, insist on equity, monitor commitments and identify solutions. Now the Advocacy Navigator program is leveraging the strength of this extraordinary program and its alumni community to expand and strengthen the network and continue to support and engage advocates for the long-term.

The Advocacy Navigator combines training and mentorship to young and emerging advocates in the field of HIV prevention advocacy. The program will mobilize a cohort of ambitious individuals and provide them with resources to build their knowledge, skills and confidence to meaningfully advance HIV prevention advocacy in their communities and countries. The program includes online coursework, personalized mentorship, and opportunities to directly apply learning through a community advocacy project. The program begins with three months of coursework and project development, followed by three months when advocates implement their plans. 

Program Successes

Several key successes emerged from the Advocacy Navigators initiative. The program’s structured curriculum and user-friendly templates provided an effective foundation that enabled participants to engage meaningfully with their communities while developing essential skills in advocacy, networking, and project management. The financial support proved instrumental in bringing projects to life, covering critical expenses such as transportation, printing, and event logistics that allowed Navigators to gain hands-on implementation experience.

Beyond the practical elements, the program fostered a strong sense of purpose and impact among participants, who felt they were making meaningful contributions to advancing HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health rights in their communities. The combination of mentorship opportunities and networking connections further enriched the experience, creating a comprehensive platform that not only equipped Navigators with valuable skills but also empowered them to drive real change in their advocacy work.

Applications

📣 AVAC is not currently accepting applications for our Navigator program.

For reference, application materials are available here. The recording of an informational webinar is also available. Any additional questions may be directed to [email protected].

Who The Program Is For

This initiative is designed for new and emerging advocates looking to jumpstart or strengthen their HIV prevention advocacy.

What The Program Entails

• Curated coursework
• Personalized mentorship
• Intentional networking
• Experiential learning

How The Program Works

In collaboration with their mentors, participants, will:

• Connect with AVAC’s global network
• Bolster existing HIV prevention campaigns
• Fuel new advocacy efforts

The first three months include structured, self-paced coursework, followed by a Community Advocacy Project for the following three months. The focus of the project is decided by the participants in consultation with their mentors in order to match their interests with community needs.

Current Mentors

In the Words of our Navigator Alumni Network

Read more about past AVAC Advocacy Fellows and the work they’ve done.

Media Science Cafés link journalists with researchers, civil society, policy makers and regulators for accurate and insightful reporting on HIV, COVID and global health equity.

Connecting Media with Health Experts

Generating compelling and nuanced media stories on health and science depends on strong connections between researchers and providers, journalists reporting the story, and civil society and community members who have critical perspectives to share.  

Researchers need skills to explain science in plain language and be open to questions. Civil society and affected communities are also a crucial component to strong news coverage, providing advocacy perspectives that capture the full impact of a given issue.

About the Media Science Café Project

Since 2012, AVAC has worked to support health journalist associations in East and Southern Africa to strengthen the capacity of journalists to report on HIV prevention research. In 2020, AVAC expanded this work to include COVID science. Through the Media Science Café Program, AVAC partners with health media associations in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe to bring journalists together with researchers, implementers, civil society, policy makers, regulators and policy makers to build relationships that will foster accurate reporting of HIV, COVID and other science or health stories in those countries.

How Does It Work?

The monthly cafés are structured as informal meetings with 20-30 journalists and expert speakers. Experts in the field gather to present and discuss timely health topics. Read the Rockefeller Foundation’s case study about the Media Science Café Project, “Decoding Scientific Research to Support Public Health in Africa.”

Experience with COVID-19

In early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic became the dominant news story around the globe, media café partners—with the support of AVAC and Internews—turned to helping journalists understand the pandemic and the science behind COVID-19 research.

The Cafés quickly moved from in-person meetings to Zoom cafés and implemented “Cross-Border Cafés,” which brought together journalists and experts from the four café countries and other African countries for updates on emerging issues, including the impact of COVID-19 on HIV research, COVID-19 treatment and vaccine trials in Africa, and clinical trial results for both COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.

As the world confronted COVID-19, AVAC and the Café partners also grappled with an “infodemic”, and it’s been hard for journalists to sieve through an overwhelming volume of information at breakneck speed to write timely and accurate stories. With the support of AVAC, the Media Café conveners helped journalists differentiate fake, over-hyped information from accurate, verifiable information derived from trustworthy sources and linked them to COVID-19 experts in their countries. Visit here for our curated list of resources to help journalists find high quality, understandable information.

Impact

The media café program has:

• Provided a platform for engagement and networking within and across countries and laid the groundwork for ongoing dialogue between key journalists and scientists, implementers, advocates, regulators and policy makers on scientific topics related to HIV, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and more recently COVID-19.
• Updated journalists on emerging issues in biomedical HIV prevention research and implementation, SRHR and COVID-19.
• Helped journalists to generate story ideas, foster peer critiques of their work and engage in thought provoking debate.
• Prepared journalists to report on prevention trial research and results; grapple with complicated science such as HIV cure research and HIV treatment; better understand domestic and donor funding for HIV programs; recognize human rights issues for key populations; and, more recently, understand COVID vaccine science and the nuances of vaccine hesitancy.
• Been supported by topic-specific regional trainings in East and Southern Africa; “help desk” support for reporters covering key HIV conferences; ongoing support to health journalists from veteran science journalists through a partnership with Internews—an organization focused on building the capacity of media professionals, human rights activists, and information entrepreneurs across the globe.

Contact

If you are a journalist who wants to be connected to the café program or receive information about training and other opportunities, please contact us at [email protected].