The Gavi CSO Community Call serves as a crucial platform for civil society organizations to engage with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. These calls are designed to foster collaboration, share updates, and explore new opportunities to enhance global health initiatives. The December 11th call was particularly significant as it addressed the outcomes of the recent Gavi board meeting and reviewed the progress of the CSCE strategy.

Gavi Board Meeting Outcomes

Overview by Tessa Aurora Lawrence

Tessa Aurora Lawrence, the Special CSO Advisor to the Gavi Board, provided an insightful overview of the recent board meeting. She highlighted that the meeting primarily focused on operationalizing the Gavi 6.0 strategy. Key decisions included the approval of the Health System Strengthening (HSIS) policy and the 10% allocation for CSOs. These decisions are pivotal in ensuring that civil society organizations continue to play a crucial role in reaching zero-dose children and marginalized communities. Tessa emphasized the importance of routine immunization and discussed the need for a differentiated approach in fragile and humanitarian settings.

Midterm Review of the CSCE Strategy

Presentation by Tara Talvakia

Tara Talvakia, a consultant on civil society engagement with Gavi, presented the midterm review of the CSCE strategy. She explained that the strategy aims to enhance the role of CSOs in achieving Gavi’s immunization goals through advocacy, service delivery, demand generation, and technical assistance. The review identified several strengths, including the successful implementation of the 10% funding allocation and the diversification of funding mechanisms. However, it also highlighted challenges such as the complexity of the CSCE design, fragmented operationalization, and inconsistent monitoring systems. Tara provided recommendations for Gavi 6.0, focusing on improving coordination, enhancing monitoring and evaluation, and fostering equitable CSO engagement.

The call revealed several key findings:

1. Board Steering Funding Impact

• The 10% funding allocation for CSOs has been successfully implemented, availing over $200 million to support various civil society initiatives.
• Diversification of funding mechanisms has ensured that the right resources reach the right CSOs, tailored to specific country contexts.

2. Challenges

• The CSCE strategy’s complexity and limited communication have hindered full understanding and buy-in across all partners.
• Fragmented operationalization and inconsistent monitoring systems have created challenges in tracking the impact of CSO funding.
• The flow of funds remains suboptimal, with a significant portion still being managed directly by Gavi, straining the secretariat’s bandwidth.

3. Country-Level Engagement

• CSOs are making significant contributions across advocacy, service delivery, and demand generation.
• There has been a notable diversification of partnerships, including increased engagement with locally led organizations and actors in humanitarian settings.

• Establish coordination mechanisms for CSOs to engage in Gavi processes at the country level.

• Improve monitoring, evaluation, and learning to understand and amplify CSO contributions.

• Ensure effective support from the CSO hosting facility and steering committee.

• Tailor support to key contexts and types of CSOs and communities.

• Apply earmarking of funds for CSOs across all relevant funding levers.

• Foster equitable and sustainable CSO engagement by supporting local entities.

• Streamline options to enable access to funding for CSOs.

• Improve coordination of CSO activities at the country level.