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Overview

The People’s Vaccine Alliance (PVA) Africa is part of a global movement of organisations and networks supported by Nobel Laureates, Heads of State, health experts, economists, world leaders, faith leaders and activists working together to ensure Africans everywhere have equitable access to vaccines.

 

Our strategy

Housed in the African Alliance, PVA Africa’s role is to ensure that the voices, priorities and work of African activists and communities, in all of our diversity, are meaningfully reflected in global healthcare. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued to ensure that interventions, strategies, and approaches to the access of COVID-19 vaccines for Africans continue to be addressed on our African terms. We do this by ensuring that the work of indigenous organisations in all five regions of the continent is amplified, and supported and shapes our collective advocacy for a truly decolonised response, for this pandemic and the next.

 

Our primary focus areas are health systems strengthening, ensuring equity in access to COVID-19 tools for communities in the global South, strengthening engagement with relevant stakeholders and accelerating an approach for a decolonised approach response.

The PVA Africa Family

 

Governance and Leadership 

We achieve our objectives through the guidance of the Steering Committee, which comprises leaders of five regional networks and never loses sight of our collective desire for the decolonisation of public health and rights-based access to products and science that saves lives, keep us healthy and accelerate our right to dignity as Africans. The Committee includes:

Rouzeh Eghtessadi

Organisation: SAfAIDS

Country: Zimbabwe

Region: Southern Africa

Rouzeh Eghtessadi is a public health specialist, Human Rights champion, thought leader and the Executive Director of Southern Africa AIDS Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS). With her leadership, SAfAIDS works to advance Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) through promoting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion and Resilience building. You can read more about SAfAIDS here: https://safaids.net/about-us/

Onesmus Kalama

Name: Onesmus Kalama

Organisation: EANNASO

Country: Tanzania

Onesmus Kalama is a trained public health specialist and the Interim Executive Director for the East Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organisations (EANNASO) and coordinating the Global Fund Anglophone CRG Regional Communication and Coordination Platform. A sitting member of the EAC Health Technical Working Group and a co-chair of the EAC SRHR Regional Steering Committee. You can read more about EANNASO here: https://eannaso.org/

Florita Durueke

Organisation: NHVMAS

Country: Nigeria

Region: West Africa

Florita Durueke is the Executive Director of the New HIV Vaccine And Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS) and a Professional Nurse. She has been working in HIV/AIDS for over ten years. She coordinates the administrative and programmatic activities of the organisation. She has a passion for women’s and children’s issues. Her vision is to see a society with the rights of women and children promoted and supported. You can read more about NHVMAS here: https://nhvmas-ng.org/site/

Sandrine Lusamba

Organisation: SOFEPADI

Country: Democratic Republic of Congo

Region: Central Africa

Sandrine Lusamba is the Vice-chair of the steering committee of PVA Africa and an activist committed to promoting women’s rights and the fight against all forms of violence against women and girls. She is the Executive Director of Solidarité Féminine Pour La Paix et le Développement Intégral (SOFEPADI), a Congolese organisation that fights against sexual and gender-based violence by raising awareness within communities, providing holistic care to victims, including access to sexual and reproductive health; and supporting women in their participation in conflict-resolution processes. She is part of the Movement of Young Women Leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and firmly believes that women and girls must participate equally and effectively in all political, economic and social sectors. You can read more about SOFEPADI here: https://www.sofepadirdc.org/

Tian Johnson

Organisation: African Alliance

Country: South Africa

Region: Southern Africa

Tian Johnson is the Chair of the Steering Committee of PVA Africa and the founder and Lead Strategist of the African Alliance, a global non-profit working on various health rights issues. Tian takes an intersectional approach to social justice. Their work spans advocacy for the rights of marginalised communities, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, white supremacy culture and decolonisation of the development sector. At the African Alliance, Tian leads the organisation to develop consistent programmes and advocate for accountability to communities by enabling them to participate in public health research programmes and the rollout of locally appropriate services. You can read more about the African Alliance here: https://africanalliance.org.za/home/

Secretariat

Lois Ewuraesi Osei

Role in PVA: Researcher

 

Lois is a Masters in International Relations candidate at the University of Cape Town. She has a strong interest in humanitarian action and local policy transformation, and valuable experience in humanitarianism, having interned with organisations assisting and providing services to vulnerable and marginalised people in society. Lois is passionate about standing up for groups and societies that face injustice, human rights abuse, and demanding equality and fair treatment for all.

Martie Mtange 

Coordinator : The People’s Vaccine Alliance Africa

 

Martie Mtange is a health and development professional with several years of experience in international NGOs’ strategic planning, policy advocacy, programme management, and communications. He has worked closely with healthcare professionals, specifically nurses and midwives who comprise the most significant proportion of healthcare workers, to advocate for better working conditions, spotlight their stories of impact during the COVID-19 pandemic…

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…supported and led campaigns to recognise their contribution to healthcare through awards and educational opportunities as well as supported the launch of the Kenya National Nursing and Midwifery Policy.

Additionally, he led the production of platforms that showcased corruption in Kenya since independence, enlightening Africans on what happens when leaders are not held to account. Through these initiatives, Martie works to find creative solutions to injustice and inequalities across Africa for those who are forgotten, taken for granted and marginalised

Barrack Owino

Sub-granting : The People’s Vaccine Alliance Africa

 

Barrack Owino Ogwell is a public health and development professional with nine years of experience in program design, organisational capacity development, policy advocacy, resource mobilisation, health promotion and communication in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is involved in programs aimed at social behaviour change communication and advocacy for disease prevention and control, HIV prevention for adolescent girls and young women…

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…sexual reproductive health and rights, and economic integration of women with disabilities. He is also experienced in developing health communication strategies, training curriculums and manuals used by community health workers and volunteers to bridge information gaps in grassroots and local communities. Through these programs, Barrack creates people-centred programs and solutions to increase capacities in health, gender-related programs and economic opportunities for vulnerable and at-risk populations to realise improved quality of life, financial freedom and fundamental rights. He utilises his acquired skills to integrate healthcare with community engagement, leadership & community development.

Takudzwa Kampira

Support: The People’s Vaccine Alliance Africa

 

Takudzwa is passionate about promoting the rights of minorities regarding equitable access to health and education. As the support lead for PVA Africa, he facilitates all the meetings in addition to managing social media and increasing the membership base of PVA Africa.

CSO Meetings

Implementing partners

 

Decolonised Granting

 

On the 12th May, the PVA Africa Secretariat made a public Request for Proposals (RFP) for the COVID-19 Advocacy Support Grant on the African Alliance’s website and social media pages. On 19th May, the African Alliance hosted a webinar to respond to questions regarding the RFP, explain the process taken when applying and communicate the work that PVA Africa does. 108 people registered to attend the webinar and we had 51 participants.

On 30th May, application links were closed and communication was shared on 1st June on the African Alliance’s social media platforms informing applicants of the deadline (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) . The initial screening of the 201 applications began on 31st May, and these were filtered to 178 due to duplications. The African Alliance screened for the following administrative compliance:

  • Proof of the applicant being indigenous
  • Office in Africa
  • Proof of work with inadequately served populations
  • Proof of rural presence
  • Proof of non-discrimination
  • Proof of COVID-19 work
  • Existing Partnerships
  • Letters of recommendation from partners
  • Proof of non-governmental and non-profit legal status or justification
  • Is there an existence of a governance structure?
  • Evidence of financial management
  • Information about the applicant’s team

Five applications were finally recommended for review by the Steering Committee because the activities of their proposals showed potential to meet the advocacy activities planned within the grant. The successful organisations were from East Africa (2), West Africa (1), North Africa (1) and Southern Africa (1). The Steering Committee members reviewed and signed off the recommendations shared by the PVA Africa Secretariat and applicants were informed of the outcome. Meetings were held from 10th – 18th August to conduct a final due diligence exercise with the African Alliance’s Finance team and discuss the applicants’ submitted proposals.

A summary of the sub-granted implementing partners is:

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)-Egypt

 

EIPR is an independent human rights organisation working to strengthen and protect fundamental rights and freedoms in Egypt through research, advocacy and supporting civil liberties, economic and social rights, and criminal justice litigation. Through the COVID-19 support grant, EIPR will be working on a project to provide a comparative evaluation of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare systems and the changes that took place as a direct consequence, to show how the pandemic has impacted the functioning of the healthcare systems in three North African countries (Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco).

Web: https://eipr.org/en

Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organisation (EANNASO, Tanzania)

 

Their project focuses on building community champions who will support pandemic-prepared efforts, including community surveillance for early warning of any resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic so that its spread can be curtailed with localised actions. The project will strengthen the capacity of champions to lead the advocacy agenda for increased access to COVID-19 tools, including COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and prevention tools.

Web: https://eannaso.org/

Purple Innovation for Women and Girls-Malawi

 

Purple Innovation for Women is a Non-Governmental Organisation registered as a Trust in Malawi with a vision to advance women’s empowerment and reduce violence against women and girls through increased training and access to digital and traditional information on interventions for women and girls.

The project will organise training of investigative journalists to monitor the management of COVID-19 funds at local and national levels. The journalists expect to produce evidence-based, investigative stories on public procurement in COVID-19 materials to inform legal investigations and prosecutions of allegedly corrupt public officers.

Website: https://purpleinnovation.org/

Resilient and Empowerment Mechanisms for the Impoverished in East Africa (REMI)-Uganda

 

A health equity organisation that works to improve the health and lives of the poorest by influencing policy advancing innovative approaches that strengthen the health system, and addressing social determinants of health. Their project on storytelling among remote rural nurses and midwives will seek to highlight the challenges and successes of delivering COVID-19 vaccines within their setting and publicise them to the world to generate a greater understanding and discussion of vaccine delivery in these settings to shape the policy and budgeting conversations.

Website: https://remieastafrica.org/

Volunteers for Sustainable Development in Africa (VOSIEDA) – Liberia

 

Works to promote prosperity, reduce extreme poverty, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources.

The project aims to address the limited accountability, transparency, and access to public information directly relevant to proportionate access at the national level for COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatment in Liberia. It will work with the National Public Health Institute of Liberia and the Ministry of Health to make public services information about COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatment facilities accessible.

Website: https://vosieda.org/

Donor Partners

The FORD Foundation

ARCHEWELL

The Rockefeller Brothers Foundation

Open Society Foundation