Guyanese civil society representatives have elected Dr Dawn Stewart, the unopposed nominee of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), as the civil society representative to Guyana’s Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM).Dr Stewart, who was elected last Friday, has replaced Renuka Anandjit, Programmes Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) who resigned after serving for five months.

The CCM was established as an oversight apparatus for the effective implementation of grants provided to Guyana by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The mandate of the CCM is to coordinate the preparation and approve proposals for submission to the Global Fund and to monitor the implementation of all approved grants.

The CCM focuses on performance by linking Global Fund resources to the achievement of clear, measurable and sustainable results based upon agreed monitoring indicators.

Membership in the CCM is broadly representative of a variety of stakeholders, each representing an active constituency with an interest in one or more of the funded disease areas – HIV, TB and Malaria.

The participation of communities, particularly those infected and directly affected by the three diseases, is critical for both the development of proposals and the implementation of the awarded grant funds.

Newly elected representative of the civil society constituency, Dr Stewart is the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of CPIC’s Monique’s Caring Hands which provides support to over 200 families from various regions in Guyana affected by HIV, provides women with empowerment sessions in various communities throughout Guyana, and overall works as a non-governmental organisation for sustainable development for women, single-parent homes and families.

She has years of experience in Public Policy, Health, Education, Nursing Counselling, Psychology, Risk Management and Business Management– both in the national and international arenas– focusing on mostly health and education, U.S. foreign policy in the Caribbean and the  role of the U.S. in international organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and financial institutions.

Dr Stewart herself has conducted workshops on behavioural change for various entities and groups, including the Guyana Fire Service, prison officers and nursing students, established the Guyanese Women Roundtable in 2014, and facilitated and coordinated human rights training programmes for women across Guyana, alongside her other responsibilities as CEO of CPIC’s Monique Caring Hands.

Now serving as the representative on the CCM for the civil society constituency, Dr Stewart pledges to work with other representatives for the betterment of all Guyanese.

“I also pledge to use my creative, energetic and visionary leadership with demonstrated experience in communication, management, advocacy, and community involvement to advocate on behalf of the affected communities and Guyana as a whole,” she added.