2009
In 2009, the Malaria Working Group organized a series of technical updates through Elluminates and the CORE Group Fall and Spring Meetings to increase member and partner knowledge of community-based malaria programming advances, global directions and research. Topics included HIV/AIDS and malaria integration issues; quality assurance and supportive supervision in community case management; a collaborative approach to community-based prevention in Benin; and a review of insecticide-treated net use in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, Malaria Working Group Members helped to revise the 2009 Malaria Technical Reference Materials and other key policy and advocacy documents.
Global Advocacy
At the global level, Malaria Working Group Members participated with the RBM Partnership through the Board and within other RBM mechanisms, including the Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP), Malaria Advocacy Working Group (MAWG) and the Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group (MERG). In 2009, Working Group Members attended the 15th and 16th RBM Board Meetings and provided valuable civil society input into global decision-making and coordination of malaria advocacy.
Country Collaboration
At the country level, the Malaria Working Group contributed to two CORE Group coordinated National Malaria Coordination Workshops in Kampala, Uganda in partnership with the Malaria and Childhood Illness Secretariat (MACIS) and in Luanda, Angola in partnership with Consaúde, Lda. In partnership with PMI Malaria Communities Program, CORE Group facilitated these workshops to strengthen and coordinate the role of civil society with the respective National Malaria Control Programs. Each workshop drew over 170 participants that represented a wide range of civil society organizations, Ministry of Health, private sector, donor and academic malaria stakeholders.
In spring 2009, CORE Group’s work with the Voices for a Malaria-Free Future (Voices) project in Kenya and Mali ended. For three years, the Working Group has helped to support CORE Group’s country collaboration work with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU CCP) in these countries. CORE Group worked with two local NGO networks, KeNAAM in Kenya and Groupe Pivot Santé Population in Mali. In Kenya, key successes included an increase of malaria visibility in local and international media; increased access for CSOs to GFATM; increased access to ACTs; creation of powerful educational and advocacy tools and supported country malaria intervention coordination and facilitation, and in Mali, key successes included an increase in commitment and resources for malaria control; the dissemination of improved national malaria policies and a coordinated malaria strategic plan; an increase in visibility of malaria as an urgent issue; and an increase the number of celebrity and stakeholder advocates, known as ‘Champions’, who promoted the need for increased resource allocation for malaria.
2008
The Malaria Working Group hosted several technical updates on topics including: Strategies to improve access to artemisinin-based combination therapy for malaria; promoting use of insecticide-treated nets for malaria prevention; Save the Children's work in Mali on community-based distribution of ACTs, and Christian Children's Fund work in Senegal on a community-based malaria and tuberculosis control program.
Kenya Country Collaboration for Malaria Advocacy
The CORE Group malaria Secretariat, KeNAAM, developed a documentary that advocates for the deregulation of ACTs to increase accessibility at the community level, for the need for an independent budget for malaria, and for a reliable health management information system. The documentary highlights testimonies from the community and implementers on the success and challenges of malaria intervention progress in Kenya. The DVD was designed to expose gaps that need to be addressed by policy makers and is being disseminated to partners and stakeholders as an advocacy tool.
KeNAAM also conducted numerous additional advocacy efforts in order to engage policy makers and further break down policy barriers, including news articles, radio interviews, TV programs and letters to officials.
Vision