The Community Systems Strengthening Framework is an important approach to consider within your proposals. There’s still time! Read on for further info.

With just under a month to go before the Round 10 submission deadline (20 August 2010, 12 noon CET), we would like to take this opportunity to bring particular attention to Community Systems Strengthening (CSS) and to strongly encourage its integration in Round 10 proposals.

We realise that many Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and even consultants have struggled to fully comprehend the new CSS framework within the short timeframe available for proposal development. However, rather than being considered as a new concept, it is important to understand that the Community Systems Strengthening framework is simply providing structure and coherence to a number of community-led activities and strategies already evident in many responses to the three diseases. The CSS framework offers an opportunity to consider the importance of the role of CSOs within traditional health systems, in the acknowledgement that an effective and sustainable response requires both strong health AND community systems. Moreover, by encouraging the inclusion of a CSS approach within grants, the Global Fund hopes that communities will be strengthened to supprt and deliver initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for AIDS, TB and malaria.

See full note with further information.