COMPASS 3.0
COMPASS 3.0
From Shifting Power to African Leadership
Turning the principles of decolonisation, ownership and
collective leadership into practice.
December 2023 — November 2025
Turning Principle into Practice
A shift from principle to practice.
The conversations that began during COMPASS 2.0 around decolonising global health, shifting power and African ownership became tangible during COMPASS 3.0.
This phase marked one of the most significant transitions in the COMPASS journey: the movement of the coalition’s centre of leadership from a Global North-based organisation to an African-led Secretariat.
Pangaea Zimbabwe became the prime grantee, Secretariat and sub-grantmaking partner for COMPASS, while AVAC transitioned into a more focused role providing programme support, technical assistance and institutional knowledge.
Previous model
Global North-based leadership
→
COMPASS 3.0
African-led Secretariat
More than an operational transition
This was more than an operational transition. It represented an important step in translating the principles of decolonising global health and shifting power into the way COMPASS itself was organised, led and managed.
What Was Critical During COMPASS 3.0
From leadership transition to sustainable impact.
COMPASS 3.0 sharpened the coalition’s focus on sustainability, country ownership and systems-level change.
01
Comprehensive HIV responses
Strengthening policies and approaches for comprehensive, person-centred HIV responses.
02
Resources for health
Increasing the allocation and effective use of resources for sustainable health responses.
03
Pandemic preparedness
Contributing to stronger pandemic preparedness and response systems.
04
Africa-led coalition
Sustaining and strengthening an evolved Africa-led transnational coalition.
05
Collective learning
Strengthening cross-country learning, thematic collaboration, governance and organisational capacity.
06
Demonstrating impact
Building the coalition’s ability to demonstrate impact and strengthen its future sustainability.
Strengthening Governance
Leadership became collective.
COMPASS 3.0 also introduced an important governance milestone through the establishment of the COMPASS Governance Committee (CGC).
The Committee was put in place to strengthen collective leadership, accountability and strategic oversight as the coalition transitioned to an African-led model.
The CGC created a platform for coalition representation and strategic engagement, helping to ensure that the evolution of COMPASS was informed by the perspectives and priorities of the coalition.
COMPASS
Governance
Committee
Governance
Committee
Representation
Accountability
Strategic Oversight
Collective Leadership
The CGC created a platform for coalition representation and strategic
engagement, helping to ensure that the evolution of COMPASS was
informed by the perspectives and priorities of the coalition.
Its establishment reinforced that African leadership was not only
about where the Secretariat was hosted, but also about strengthening
shared ownership and governance across the coalition.
Together, the transition of the Secretariat to Pangaea Zimbabwe and
the establishment of the Governance Committee marked an important step
in embedding African leadership more intentionally within both the
operational and governance structures of COMPASS.
Key Advocacy, Policy & Governance Achievements
Turning coalition influence into systems change.
Across Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, advocacy connected community evidence with financing decisions, policy processes, prevention frameworks and governance systems.
Country Impact
Malawi
- Sustained advocacy was linked to an increase in the share of the national budget allocated to health from 9% to 12%.
- Community advocacy and differentiated service delivery work supported planned integration of Community ART Refill Groups into Malawi’s national DSD framework.
Country Impact
Tanzania
- Sikika’s advocacy was associated with an 8.7% increase in Tanzania’s health-sector budget and a 10.7% increase in the TACAIDS budget.
- CAB-LA approval and revision of the PrEP framework marked important progress towards expanding access to new HIV prevention options.
- Community scorecard findings informed amendments to the HIV Prevention Roadmap.
Country Impact
Zimbabwe
- A youth seat on the Country Coordinating Mechanism strengthened youth representation in a key national health financing and governance platform.
- Policy and programme processes increasingly reflected key-population and youth inclusion through inclusive standard operating procedures and advocacy on structural barriers.
- Advocacy contributed to a violence-response mechanism addressing structural barriers and to efforts that blocked harmful HIV-criminalisation provisions.
9→12%
Malawi national health budget share
+8.7%
Tanzania health-sector budget
+10.7%
Tanzania TACAIDS budget
3
Countries driving interconnected advocacy
Coalition-Level Governance Achievement
From influence to ownership.
The transition of the Secretariat and prime grant functions to Pangaea Zimbabwe strengthened African leadership in the operational management of COMPASS. The establishment of the COMPASS Governance Committee strengthened collective leadership, representation, accountability and strategic oversight.
African Leadership
Collective Governance
Accountability
Strategic Oversight
Shared Ownership
A Maturing Coalition
Advocacy was no longer only about individual policies.
These achievements showed a maturing coalition capable of influencing not only individual policies, but also financing decisions, prevention frameworks, representation and accountability systems.
At the same time, the transition to African leadership and the establishment of the CGC created a stronger foundation for collective ownership.
As the external funding environment changed, the next challenge became how to protect these gains while concentrating COMPASS resources on the areas where its advocacy model could have the greatest strategic impact.
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