The Advocacy Core Team.
Scope of work : HIV and Health Advocacy
1. Health and HIV Policy and Law Reform
- Engage with Parliament and relevant ministries to review, influence, and reform health and HIV-related laws and policies that are progressive and promote access to health services, reduce stigma, and protect rights, particularly for vulnerable populations such as adolescents, women, and people living with HIV.
2. Public Health Financing Advocacy
- Lead national advocacy campaigns for sustainable, transparent, and increased public financing for health and HIV/AIDS, monitor and influence the national budgeting process to align with regional and global commitments, including the Abuja Declaration and track and report on health budget allocations, utilization, and gaps.
3. Universal Health Coverage and National Health Insurance
- Advocate for the establishment and implementation of a national health insurance scheme that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable.
4. Community Engagement and Political Accountability
- Mobilize communities and civil society to actively participate in health governance, policy formulation, and accountability mechanisms.
5. Donor and Global Health Advocacy Coordination
Lead national civil society engagement in the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Country Operational Plan (COP) and Global Fund development processes.
6. Coalition Strengthening and Strategic Partnerships
Coordinate with national and subnational CSO networks to amplify health advocacy efforts and share technical expertise, facilitate knowledge exchange, and provide advocacy capacity support to coalition members.
COMPASS Thematic Area
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 Policy and Legislation for HIV Prevention
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Domestic Resource Mobilization for HIV prevention
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Differentiated Service Delivery, Combination HIV prevention and Access
KEY achievements over the 8 years of COMPASS
ACT has a 5-year renewable Memorandum of Understanding with the Parliament and has done extensive work with it on law reform. This work includes:
- The amendment of the Children’s Amendment Bill, which introduced the criminalisation of the denial of health care services to children. Â
- Public Health Act and Medical Services Amendment Bill to remove age restrictions for adolescents and young people. Recommendations were accepted, and bill re-drafting is currently underway. Â
- Repeal of Section 79 of the Criminal Codification Act through the Marriages Act, which saw the decriminalisation of wilful transmission of HIV, a bill that mostly affected women and fuelled stigma against people living with HIV.
- ACT has played a key role in pushing the government of Zimbabwe to commit to the establishment of a national health insurance scheme, and in advocating for sustainable financing of the public health sector. Bill development processes are currently ongoing, and ACT will closely participate and support CSO and community efforts around the NHI
- ACT’s advocacy efforts contributed to the increase of the health budget from 8.3% (2019) to 13% (2025) of the general national budget, moving closer to the Abuja target of 15%.Â
- ACT has improved civic engagement in national budget-making processes by conducting community budget literacy trainings and health policy dialogues with shadow health ministers from different political parties. These politicians are committed to addressing per capita spending, increase number of health care workers and their remuneration, ensure availability of essential drugs and addressing access-related barriers. Â
- Since 2012, at the national/global level, ACT has coordinated and conducted annual CSO consultations in various regions of the country to solicit CSO priorities for the PEPFAR Country Operating Plan. ACT has pushed for an increase in HIV service delivery funds from PEPFAR, seeing a significant increase from US$ 80 million in 2012, supporting mostly technical assistance, to more than US$220 million in 2021, mostly supporting direct service delivery, and then flatlined to US$220 million for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024, excluding incentive funding.