The Global Fund Grant Cycle 8 (2027–2030) Window 1 process has reinforced a critical principle: when communities are meaningfully engaged, health priorities become more grounded, evidence-informed, and transformative in scope and impact.

Across Uganda and Kenya, Community Advocacy Network partners have played a central role in shaping national funding request processes, ensuring that lived experience, community-generated data, and accountability mechanisms remain at the heart of decision-making.

These reflections were further highlighted and validated at the COMET CLM Implementation, AI & Advocacy Alignment Workshop, held in Lilongwe, Malawi (9–11 June 2026), where country experiences demonstrated the growing convergence between community-led monitoring, strategic advocacy, and emerging digital and AI-enabled approaches to health systems strengthening.

Collectively, these engagements affirm a clear direction for GC8: community leadership is not supplementary—it is foundational to effective, equitable, and sustainable health responses.