Breaking Down Barriers to Health Services in South Asia; a program to strengthen youth leadership in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria

What’s it about?

Are you a young activist in Bangladesh, India, or Nepal, with an interest in driving social change and reducing human rights-related barriers to health services? If you are, this exciting new program may be for you!

Too often, young people – especially those belonging to vulnerable populations – have the least access to health services due to stigma, discrimination, and criminalization. Breaking down barriers to health services demands that young people in all their diversity are empowered to lead the call for change.

However, youth are often denied access to the right platforms and excluded from the decisions that affect their lives. Building on the Global Fund’s ongoing Breaking Down Barriers initiative, the Global Fund and Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) aim to improve this access through building bridges between civil society organizations (CSOs) – particularly those led by and for affected communities – and the media, with the goal of equipping and empowering young activists to speak out.

This November, the Global Fund and TRF are launching a program for CSOs and journalists based in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The program will support young civil society leaders and their organizations in their efforts to remove human rights-related barriers to health services through enhanced communication and media engagement skills. The program will also support journalists to report on related issues with accuracy and authority.

The program begins with a five-day in-person course in November 2025, followed by a series of engagement opportunities running until the end of 2026.

For more information on the program and how to apply, please see below.

Background

Since 2019, The Global Fund and Thomson Reuters Foundation have been working together to amplify the voices of marginalized groups as they demand equitable access to health services. Despite progress, changing discriminatory laws and policies and eliminating stigma remain formidable challenges. Building on the partnership with TRF, the Global Fund is now seeking to enhance and support the vital role played by youth and young leaders in improving human rights, gender equality and equity in health services for the most vulnerable in society. 

Between 2025 and 2026, TRF and the Global Fund will support young civil society leaders and journalists based in countries covered by the Global Fund’s Breaking Down Barriers initiative who aspire to a step change in public narratives on human rights, and to build more just and equal societies. TRF and the Global Fund see the media and civil society as playing crucial roles in this critical work:

• The role of communities and civil society organizations: Working on the frontlines of social change, communities and CSOs are crucial partners in advocating for marginalized and vulnerable groups, providing services, and mobilizing communities. Through their direct work with marginalized and vulnerable people, CSOs often have deep knowledge of their needs, and expertise in empowering these communities to demand better health services. CSOs conduct research, raise awareness about health disparities, and lobby governments and other stakeholders for policy change to promote equitable access to health services. By amplifying the voices of marginalized groups and advocating for their rights, CSOs contribute significantly to efforts to improve health outcomes for all members of society.
• The role of journalists: Journalists have a vital and powerful role to play in addressing barriers to health services for marginalized groups by raising awareness about disparities, conducting investigative reporting to uncover systemic issues, highlighting successful solutions, and informing the public. Through high-quality, rights-based, and accurate reporting, journalists can inform public perception and policy direction, and ultimately drive positive change towards equitable access to health services for all. 

The Program

The program begins with a five-day in-person course in November 2025, followed by a series of engagement opportunities running until the end of 2026. It offers long-term, targeted support to young civil society leaders and their organizations, as well as to young journalists in order to drive real change in attitudes, practices, and policies.

Program participants will have the opportunity to progress through the following stages:

a)   Onboarding onto the program through one-to-one conversations with the Global Fund and/or TRF staff.

b)   Participation in TRF’s innovative dual-track training course, location to be determined (Bangladesh, India, or Nepal), during one of two sessions: November 10-14 or November 17-21 (in person, compulsory).

• The five-day course will be delivered through a blend of in-person modules, group work, expert guest sessions, exercises and individual assignments.
• The CSO and journalism training tracks will proceed in separate training rooms, with joint sessions built into the agenda. The joint sessions will offer opportunities for practicing skills with professional peers, learning more about one another’s work, and networking.
• The training will be run in English. 
• Participants should be prepared to develop a succinct, engaging, informative 90-second presentation on a key initiative, and confidently handle questions. Participants will have the opportunity to deliver their presentations to journalists at a joint meeting, in which the journalists will also have the opportunity to interview them.

c)   Access to direct one-to-one mentorship to pursue an agreed communications objective. Places in the mentoring scheme will be allocated through a competitive process, and proposals must focus on the topic of human rights and health. Small grants will be awarded to applicants whose proposals are successful.

d)   The opportunity to access pro bono legal support, including tailored legal mentorship for selected CSOs that sign up. Support will be available through TrustLaw, the world’s largest pro-bono legal service. Through TrustLaw, TRF will support CSOs to harness the pro-bono expertise of lawyers to support research and capacity-building needs. Documents required to register for TrustLaw include, but are not limited to, (a) organization registration documents, (b) articles of association, (c) recent annual report, and (d) recent financial statements.

e)   Participation in an alumni network of young activists and young journalists. Alumni will have opportunities to come together at key milestones throughout the duration of the program (2025-2026). These opportunities may include alumni and other relevant events, such as World AIDS Day or regional events.

f)     Access to further support opportunities – be it further training, TrustLaw support, or one-to-one mentorship opportunities.

Expected Program Outcomes

Through the initial training course and subsequent engagement in the program (until end of 2026), participants will build their skills in journalism and communication. On completion of the program, participants are expected to have greater understanding of best practices, and increased confidence and motivation with regards to reporting or communicating on human rights issues relating to health services. Participants will also understand how to access legal support through the TRF TrustLaw network. 

The longer-term program will provide course alumni with opportunities to engage in follow-up activities, including joint sessions to foster CSO-journalist interaction. TRF and the Global Fund see this long-term approach as fundamental to fostering a productive network of CSOs and journalists equipped with the tools and knowledge to explain how efforts to reduce human rights-related barriers to health services must be an integral part of efforts to improve the health of everyone in society. 

Program Principles

The program is designed to be practical and interactive, and participants will work on real-world issues they face in their work, as well as hypothetical scenarios. Participants will be expected to contribute to discussions, and to share insights from their own experience.

We emphasize that all engagement opportunities over the course of the program, including the in-person training, are a safe environment, and that respect and fairness are crucial.

The Global Fund and TRF expect: 

• Participants to provide respectful, constructive, and meaningful contributions during and after the course.
• Civil society and journalist participants to forge networks and identify issues for appropriate reporting and content generation.
• All participants to engage with one another, share knowledge and experience related to their work and how they overcome challenges.
• Ongoing and active engagement in the program stages as described above.

Logistics

Cost of Participation

The program is designed to support existing activities that you and your organization are already implementing. No additional costs are expected from participants.

The following costs associated with participating in the program, specifically for in-person events, will be covered by TRF and the Global Fund:

• International and domestic flights (economy class)
• Visa costs, if applicable
• Accommodation costs for in-person events
• Other local transportation to/from course venue, including airport transfers
• Meals and refreshments and/or a daily per-diem to cover meals not provided during course hours.

TRF and the Global Fund will consider reimbursement of other reasonable costs which participants may expect to incur to enable participation in the in-person events. Costs outside of those listed above must be discussed and agreed in advance.dvance.

Who Can Apply

To be eligible to participate in this program, CSO applicants must be:

• Employees or affiliates of a CSO that is either (a) youth-led, or (b) has youth-focused programming. The organization that you work for must:
  • Have an active relationship with a Global Fund grant, and/or work directly on reducing human rights-related barriers to HIV, TB and/or malaria.
  • Be eligible for TrustLaw membership – criteria can be found here. Organization should at minimum be registered, and be able to provide evidence of financial sustainability.
• Employed or actively involved in communications and/or advocacy related to HIV, TB and/or malaria.
• Involved in organizational projects or initiatives focused on the health and human rights of key, vulnerable or underserved populations in the context of HIV, TB or Malaria.
• Working in Bangladesh, India, or Nepal.
• Able to demonstrate at least three years of relevant professional experience.
• 30 years of age or younger at the time of applying (age will be verified against applicant passport).
• Be fluent in English.
• Already hold a valid passport and be able to travel for the course dates shown.

Successful applicants will be required to provide a letter of support from their manager or appropriate senior leader in the CSO they work for or are affiliated with. Please note that this is not a recommendation or professional reference letter – it is an endorsement letter in which the organization commits to engage in the program and support the applicant to do so as well. The letter should therefore confirm the applicant’s availability to travel and participate in the five-day training course, as well as include in-principle support for the applicant to:

• Engage subsequently in future opportunities offered as part of the program, mostly through remote engagement. 
• Cascade learning obtained during the course within their organization/network.
• Propose topics for legal research that can be identified in partnership with their organization/network for TrustLaw to take forward.

Please note that if the applicant works for multiple organizations, the organization that endorses their participation must be the one that will engage in the program long term and  meets the above organizational criteria (i.e., must be youth-led or -focused, must have a relationship with a Global Fund grant and/or work on HIV, TB, and/or malaria, and must be eligible for TrustLaw membership). This program is meant to benefit both the participant as well as their endorsing organization, which is why the organization must be able to meet these criteria.