23 Sep Africa REACH at the 2024 ViiV Pediatric Breakthrough Partnership Meeting
In September 2024, Africa REACH had the opportunity to participate in the annual ViiV Pediatric Breakthrough Partnership Meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, from 16–19 September 2024. This collaborative meeting brought together key partners committed to improving paediatric HIV outcomes.
Objective of the Meeting
The primary objectives of the meeting were to review key achievements, learnings, and updates from the Breakthrough Partnership (BP) at both regional and global levels. Participants engaged in reflections aimed at improving operational efficiency, service delivery, and refining collaboration modalities. Additionally, discussions focused on leveraging partnerships for advocacy, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and aligning efforts across BP countries.
Key Takeaways
Africa REACH co-led the Global Advocacy workstream session alongside UNICEF, UNAIDS’ Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children by 2030. Our presentation emphasised the importance of leveraging partnerships to strengthen and amplify advocacy efforts. For Africa REACH, advocacy is about amplifying the voices of communities most impacted by HIV/AIDS, pushing for political and social accountability, and ensuring that global commitments to ending AIDS in children are turned into tangible actions.
Sessions throughout the meeting took a deep dive into global, regional, and country-level data trends, exploring how data can be harnessed to support stronger advocacy and programmatic outcomes. Participants highlighted the need for refining communication strategies, fostering team cohesion, and enhancing the effectiveness of our joint efforts. The discussions also emphasised the potential for further collaboration between organisations to maximise synergies in our work and fostering unified advocacy efforts and cross-learning opportunities.
Who Attended the Meeting?
Attendees at the ViiV Pediatric Breakthrough Partnership Meeting included representatives from:
- Aidsfonds
- EGPAF
- PATA
- UNICEF
- ViiV Healthcare Positive Action
In addition, technical representatives from Cameroon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, as well as Ministry of Health representatives from Tanzania, joined the discussions. Champions from the Global Alliance and Africa REACH also participated, contributing valuable insights to the sessions.
Next Steps
Looking ahead, the next steps include strengthening advocacy efforts by harnessing the power of partnerships and data-driven storytelling. The discussions highlighted the need for continued collaboration, with a focus on unifying our efforts to create impactful, actionable outcomes. All participating organisations agreed to explore more opportunities for cross-learning and to capitalise on existing synergies to further our shared goals.