Home » About Microbicides » Advocacy » Global Action Plan
Global Action Plan
In July 2000, the Rockefeller Foundation initiated a two-year process of consultation and group work to help take the field of microbicides to the next level. Out of this process came a series of working groups that explored different challenges in the microbicide field.
Lori Heise of the Global Campaign co-chaired the Advocacy Working group with Susan Crane of the UK NGO International Family Health. This group was charged with developing a global action plan for advocacy to guide the investment of donors.
The group decided to remain small and to conduct the majority of its work via email, seeking outside input and guidance via two international consultative meetings. The first meeting --held in Warrenton, Virginia, from June 28 to July 2, 2001-- was sponsored by the Global Campaign for Microbicides, and involved sixty advocates from twenty-eight countries. This important gathering --funded by the Ford Foundation-- provided a rich opportunity for committee members to seek input from a wide range of developing-country partners (more on the international advocates meeting.) The second meeting was convened specifically to inform the Rockefeller process and was held in Washington, D.C., on August 9 and 10, 2001. This meeting involved twenty participants, with a heavy emphasis on European actors.
The Working Group mapped the landscape of existing advocacy actors and developed a framework for developing a Global Action Plan for microbicide advocacy. At both of the consultative meetings, advocates participated in exercises to identify priority goals, strategies, and activities for global advocacy on microbicides.
The resulting document, "Global Advocacy for Microbicides: A Call to Action," serves as the manifesto of the global microbicides movement. It is a resource for advocates and donors that identifies activities critical to realising the promise of microbicides.
