July 24, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Heena Patel, O’Neill Institute Director of Strategic Communications
hp498@georgetown.edu
Washington, D.C. — The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law is pleased to announce the RISE (Representation, Inclusion, Sustainability, and Equity) study — led by a research team that includes the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics — has been awarded the 2024 Robert Carr Research Award at the 2024 International AIDS Conference. This prestigious award is presented to research projects from community-academia partnerships with the potential to inform advocacy efforts and evidence-based programs, thereby ensuring a rights-based HIV response.
“From the very beginning, the RISE study was designed to elevate and amplify the voices, stories, and experiences of communities engaged with the Global Fund,” stated Alana Sharp, a scholar with the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics and one of the study’s research leads. “We’re deeply committed to honoring Robert Carr’s legacy by ensuring that RISE is more than a research study: it is also an advocacy tool to strengthen donor accountability to communities.”
The RISE Study is an independent, community-owned research project led by a steering committee of 13 members from 11 countries that examined the engagement of communities in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM).
“If we are serious about improving the effectiveness of global health initiatives like the Global Fund, then we need to be doing rigorous research on governance,” said Dr. Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics and a faculty member at the Georgetown University School of Health. “We are thrilled that the RISE study has been recognized with this important award and proud of the global team of researchers and community leaders whose deep collaboration made it happen.”
While the study affirms the vital role of CCMs in the Global Fund partnership across all stages of the funding cycle, the authors of the study identified several opportunities to enhance community engagement with CCMs and Global Fund processes. They offer seven recommendations, from making the funding process more transparent to bolstering support for peer-to-peer mentoring of community CCM representatives and removing barriers to meaningful community engagement. The final RISE report is available in English and French.
The group includes representatives from Aides, amfAR, Association de lutte contre sida, Coalition Plus, Malaysian AIDS Council, Ishtar MSM, MATRAM, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Positive Generation, REVS+, SISTERS Foundation, Treatment Action Campaign, and Uganda Young Positives.
The award was presented at this year’s International AIDS Conference in Munich, Germany, during the Robert Carr Memorial Lecture.