COMPASS 1.0
Our Journey
From a bold idea to a movement for change.
COMPASS began with a simple but ambitious idea: civil society organisations across Africa could be stronger when they worked not only alongside one another, but as a connected, transnational coalition with a shared commitment to data, advocacy, activism and accountability.
COMPASS brought together partners in Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe to combine community knowledge, evidence and strategic advocacy to address barriers to effective and equitable HIV responses.
From the beginning, the coalition focused on moving beyond activities and towards the changes advocacy could help achieve, including shifts in policy, financing and service delivery.
The Foundation
What was critical during COMPASS 1.0?
This was the phase of building the model, growing the coalition, strengthening advocacy and proving what coordinated, evidence-informed action could achieve.
01
Grow the coalition
Growing and diversifying country coalitions so that more voices, experiences and perspectives could shape advocacy priorities.
02
Strengthen advocacy
Strengthening advocacy skills and strategic planning so partners could move from identifying challenges to influencing change.
03
Build common approaches
Developing shared approaches and tools for advocacy, monitoring and learning across countries.
04
Campaign with evidence
Building a campaign-based approach grounded in community knowledge, evidence and the realities experienced by affected communities.
05
Demonstrate change
Demonstrating that coordinated, data-informed advocacy could contribute to meaningful policy and programme change.
From Advocacy to Change
Key Advocacy & Policy Achievements
Explore some of the changes that COMPASS partners contributed to across the three countries. Hover or tap to explore.
COUNTRY 01
Malawi
Policy and programme changes strengthened access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
What changed?
- HIV self-testing policy and guidelines were adopted, supporting scale-up.
- PrEP guidelines were endorsed, supporting national movement towards expansion.
- Tuberculosis preventive treatment for all was adopted as a national priority.
COUNTRY 02
Tanzania
Advocacy helped expand recognition, access and inclusion within HIV policy and programming.
What changed?
- Vulnerable adolescent girls and young women included as eligible for PrEP & self-testing.
- HIV Act amended to accommodate self-testing & lower consent age to 15 years.
- Transgender people included as a stand-alone population in the National Strategic Plan.
COUNTRY 03
Zimbabwe
Civil society priorities helped influence national planning, prevention and access to HIV services.
What changed?
- Civil society priorities influenced PEPFAR planning, including CLM and viral load.
- PrEP scale-up expanded to additional priority districts and populations.
- Advocacy contributed to the abolition of user fees for people living with HIV.
The Lesson
What COMPASS 1.0 proved
The first phase demonstrated that coalition advocacy could move beyond dialogue and contribute to tangible policy and programme change.
Evidence can move decisions
▼
- Coordinated, data-informed advocacy helped bring community priorities into policy and programme discussions.
- Evidence became a practical tool for influencing decision-makers.
Coalitions create stronger advocacy
▼
- Country coalitions created stronger platforms for civil society organisations to coordinate their priorities.
- Cross-country learning helped partners adapt approaches and strengthen advocacy.
Advocacy is about change, not activity
▼
- COMPASS shifted attention from simply delivering activities towards understanding the policy, financing and service-delivery changes advocacy could achieve.
From proving the model to expanding it.
By the end of COMPASS 1.0, the coalition had demonstrated that the model worked. COMPASS had grown from an emerging coalition into a recognised platform for strategic advocacy and cross-country collaboration. The next question was how to build on these foundations, deepen impact and strengthen the coalition for the future.
Our Partners
