Saiti Chikwapulo, a participant from Malawi
Opportunities:
- The AFRO meeting opened its doors to civil society and we can see if we can influence its agenda for next year
- EALS is part of a team that is undertaking the drafting of the regional HIV bill on request from the EALA.
- EACSO Forum as the recommendations from this forum are formally
- The synchronization of the pre budgetary hearings and budget readings in EA partner states is helpful in budget tracking
- An analysis of the EAC to map out where the greatest impact of the campaigns would be felt and have the greatest impact
- Training of civil society on procurement and supply in order to allow them to come to the table with a solution to the problems
- Trainings which are being offered at the universities on IP
- The AU level. Litigation at the ACHPR
Media:
- We need the media as they are part of Civil Society. We must work with media to ensure that there is information to the general public as well as public debate on the issues in order to ensure ownership of the issues.
- We must re-strategise on how the messages are packaged, this campaign must be bigger than HIV as the issue of stock outs affects various essential drugs
- Media engagement has been a major issue with all the country groups
- Engaging media practitioners to help training of CSOs on their media advocacy campaigns
- We should tap into international media as they have a wider readership
- We should also link with community media as they have their ear to the ground and have the attention of the masses
- We must cultivate relationships with those journalists who have a specialized interest in the issues
