Breaking Down Barriers to Health Services

This programme trains journalists and civil society actors to challenge societal stigma preventing marginalised communities from accessing health services.

About

Since 2020, the Global Fund and the Thomson Reuters Foundation have been working together to amplify the voices of marginalised groups often denied equitable access to health services. The Foundation facilitates pro bono legal research and legal capacity building for civil society partners in key countries supported by the Global Fund’s Breaking Down Barriers initiative, alongside innovative journalism training programmes focused on human-rights related barriers to health services, and how to reduce them.


Overview

In many countries, those most in need of health services often cannot access them, because of human rights-related barriers fuelled by stigma and discrimination, gender inequality, punitive laws, and violence.

Our programme supports young leaders in Breaking Down Barriers countries across Africa, Asia, Central and South America and Eastern Europe, to change the public narrative around marginalised groups that prevents them accessing life-saving services. We provide dual-track training to young journalists and young civil society leaders in the Global Fund’s network on human rights and health issues, alongside how to more effectively interact with the media and decision-makers.

We also engage young lawyers in our global pro bono legal network TrustLaw to support research and capacity-building for CSOs, to better equip them to challenge societal stigma and hold policy makers to account. An alumni network of young journalists and activists was launched at the start of the programme to drive real change in attitudes, practices and policy.

Key highlights

Over 130 journalists and CSOs have completed the training programme so far, bolstering our network of programme alumni working to challenge narratives in countries where stigma and discrimination persist. Most trained journalists have now published articles on access to healthcare, and civil society professionals have reported increased confidence in engaging key decision makers. 

As part of the programme’s latest cycle, which launched in 2024, the Global Fund commissioned a research project through TrustLaw on barriers to accessing health services for young people. Lawyers from eight countries in the TrustLaw network (Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Nigeria, Thailand, and South Africa) conducted a review into the legal and policy frameworks in these countries, to be used in the Global Fund’s ongoing work.

Hear from participants to find out how the training has empowered them to help change the public narrative around marginalised communities:

Training opportunities for journalists

Explore our range of capacity-building programmes for journalists.

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Training opportunities for journalists

Explore our range of capacity-building programmes for journalists.

Find out more

How this programme is funded

This project is funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, under their Breaking Down Barriers programme.