From 10 to 12 October, a Strategic Meeting of the TBpeople Global Network was held in Istanbul, bringing together country representatives of the network and partners from regional and international organizations.
The meeting participants discussed global and regional TB strategies, the role of the community in implementing these strategies, budget advocacy for TB programs at the country level, new priority areas, a communication strategy and future goals.
TBEC Executive Director Yuliia Kalancha presented to the participants effective mechanisms for engaging` community representatives in the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of TB. The speaker gave a brief overview of international political commitments of countries and emphasized that civil society and communities can in their advocacy work can both call for the need for countries to fulfill these commitments and participate in the formation of these commitments at the global level.
In her presentation, Yuliia elaborated on the following successfully proven advocacy tools:
- Standardized package of community-based support services to improve TB outcomes
- WHO Multisectoral Accountability Framework to End TB
- Data Collection to track meaningful CSO/community engagement and impact in TB response
For each tool a set of educational and methodological materials that will help implement them in countries, was presented to participants.
TBEC Board members Cristina Celan, Oxana Rucsineanu and Denis Godlevsky shared their advocacy experience as well.
Following the Strategic Meeting, the participants formulated goals that will be integrated into the new TBpeople Strategy.

