Key Populations Program
31 December 2024
About Compass
Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity in Africa (COMPASS Africa) is an innovative, data-informed, and audacious transnational North-South collaboration of global civil society organizations working in the global North and East and Southern Africa. The project is anchored by civil society-led coalitions in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe working in coalition with global and regional partners in America and Uganda to gather, analyse and use evidence and data to shape strategic activist and advocacy campaigns shape strategic activist and advocacy campaigns focused on barriers to a comprehensive, evidence-based HIV/AIDS response
One of the key objectives of COMPASS Africa since the coalition’s inception in 2017 has been Sustaining and evolving the coalition to set the standard for decolonizing health through transnational coalition-based, Africa-led activism via a milestone-driven, partner-led transition to African leadership, management and grantmaking within the coalition. Thus, in a yearlong landmark and pioneering transition of global leadership from the North to the south, Pangaea Zimbabwe is now the global lead partner in the COMPASS Africa coalition serving as the coalition’s global secretariate since November 2023 and housing the Global coordinator. PZ continues to host the country and regional Monitoring, Evaluation, Results, and Learning (MERL) hub for the COMPASS Africa Coalition since December 2017.
- 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”
Key result areas
- Improved development, adoption, implementation and evaluation of laws, policies and approaches supportive of comprehensive, person-centered HIV responses that address barriers to equitable access and meet the needs of those at high risk of HIV infection and those living with HIV, including key populations, adolescents and young people, and other vulnerable populations.
- Increased allocation and efficient utilization of human, financial and technical resources from national governments, ODA, and the private sector to programs and partners on the front lines of the HIV response.
- Improved country, regional and global pandemic responses to protect global HIV/AIDS gains and improve global health equity, security, governance, and multi-sector collaboration.
- A Sustained and evolved North-South coalition to set the standard for transnational coalition-based, Africa-led activism.
PZ contributions and milestones on COMPASS Africa
PZ Achievements
PZ as MERL hub lead from 2017 to date:
- To maintain all existing achievements
- @Joseph Njowa to add updated MERL achievements
PZ as Global Secretariat November 2023 to date:
- Voted to be the First African partner to lead the global coalition from 2023
- Successfully co-led the leadership transition from Global north to Global south with AVAC
- Successfully coordinated the country and key constituency led selection of the coalition’s first governance committee
- Held the first in-person strategy lab since before the COVID era during March of 2024
- Hosts the first Global Coordinator of the coalition
- Coordinated and led the successful application and implementation of the Global Fund TA grant
- Initiated and currently implementing a Financial Management Capacity Strengthening programme for COMPASS
- Facilitated the coalition’s first cross-country learning exchange coordinated by the Malawi and Zimbabwe country secretariates
