TBEC activities under Work Stream 1 of the 2015 work programme, “Mapping civil society stakeholders across the region”, will ensure a better understanding of civil society actors that are working on TB and related fields. This will allow civil society to understand who their civil society partners are across the region and gain important insight into national issues that impede the successful control of TB. Comprehensive knowledge of relevant actors is the basis to ensure increased participation of civil society and affected communities in policy processes, which is a fundamental principle of the EU. Greater collaboration and networking capacity across the region has value at EU level as many countries move/aim to move towards gaining EU membership. Regional or national policies on TB that are the result of an inclusive, collaborative processes are likely to be shared and supported by all stakeholders, enabling improved outcomes for TB in the EU.
The target countries to be mapped in 2015 include Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, in order to strengthen TBEC’s understanding and positioning ahead of the High level Ministerial Conference on TB, hosted by the Latvian presidency of the EU. In addition, the five countries of Central Asia, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria will also be the focus of mapping activities. TB in these countries presents a real threat to the EU due to the mobility of populations in the region. Greater understanding of civil society activity to address TB in these countries can be used to improve EU policy to tackle the TB epidemic. Similarly, greater knowledge of the civil society stakeholders in these countries will help strengthen the outreach of TBEC activities that include capacity building and information dissemination. In turn, these activities will help to contribute to the development of more effective policies to address the TB epidemic in the EU and in neighbouring countries.

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TBEC will ensure that all members are kept up-to-date on civil society activities, policy and resource developments around the TB response throughout the region.
Under this work stream the network produces and disseminates a monthly email newsletter to the entire membership (in both English and Russian, to adequately provide for all members). These newsletters will be archived and publicly available on the TBEC website from 2015.
This work stream also includes the on-going development and maintenance of the TBEC website. At least two new blogs are posted every week on the website. The membership and resources/publications page are updated quarterly. The patients’ testimonies/case studies section and any Announcements relating to governance are published when available and relevant. New web pages will be developed in 2015 that enhance the information available to members, including the strengthening of regional networking and peer-to-peer exchanges. These new pages include: a calendar of events and opportunities; a civil society forum page, which will link members with social media community pages; a technical assistance web page (including toolkits, archived and current Q&A webinars, training materials and best practice reviews); a page dedicated to fundraising opportunities for civil society organisations, and a feedback/submission form.
A mentoring programme will be developed as part of this work stream by the Secretariat, available to all members and implemented year-round. In 2015 TBEC will invite participants to join the programme based on the needs identified by the mapping activities, with the process becoming open application-based from 2016 onwards. This programme will aim to provide long-term support to members as they engage in a particular process (e.g. advocacy strategy development, funding applications and coalition-building).
In addition, the annual thematic report will be launched as part of World TB Day activities (March 24th). The report will be made publicly available and disseminated amongst the membership via TBEC communication channels.

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Whilst outreach is conducted on an informal level throughout the year, specific actions of the network serve to expand the network and help support more members.
The country visit is particularly important as both an outreach tool and a means to build the capacity of civil society at national level. Latvia has been identified as the priority country for 2015, as it will host the High-Level Ministerial Meeting on TB in Riga (March 2015) under the Latvia EU Presidency. Following this important event, civil society will be mobilised and ready to conduct effective follow-up to this meeting, aiming to maintain the engagement of national decision-makers and parliamentarians. TBEC will help to strengthen these efforts and to forge links between national civil society stakeholders and TBEC members in neighbouring countries to further increase the impact of this event.

This work stream also includes the development and distribution of promotional materials that are then disseminated to national focal points and members of the Steering Committee to help them network and expand the reach of TBEC within their country. A leaflet is produced that is lightweight and cost-effective to send out across the region. It is produced in both English and Russian to be fully accessible to target groups.

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This work stream implements the role of the network as a representative of civil society in policymaking for the TB response at EU and regional levels. It utilises the expertise of the Secretariat in developing strategic relationships and access decision-making spaces, enabling the voice of civil society to be included within discussions that directly impact upon the response to TB at different levels.
TBEC will advocate on behalf of the network within key opportunities throughout 2015.
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This output involves the day-to-day management and administration of the network, as well as systematic strengthening of the network’s internal processes and governance. This is to be achieved via the strengthening of the rules and procedures relating to the Steering Committee, e.g. for the election of Steering Committee members, as well as the development of a fundraising strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of the network.
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