Loyce’s Visit to Canada
The GFAN Speakers Bureau features advocates who have seen the impact of the Global Fund in their lives. Speakers share the message of the importance of the Global Fund and are active advocates in their own communities for prevention, treatment and/or care for one or more of the three diseases.
In April Loyce Maturu visited Canada to speak with advocates, supporters and Members of Parliament. She shared her message on the Global Fund and actively advocated for an increased pledge for the Global Fund from Canada. She also had an opportunity to testify before the House of Commons Finance Committee along side Françoise Vanni, Director of External Relations for the Global Fund and share her story.
I visited Canada to build momentum, and to advocate by sharing the impact of the Global Fund so as to encourage Canada to continue investing within the Global Fund, have an early announcement of its pledge and encourage increase of its pledge towards the Global Fund.
Loyce Maturu
While she was in Canada, we launched Loyce’s video that shares her story and highlights the importance of the Global Fund in saving her life.
The most impactful part of my trip was having to share the impact of the Global Fund with different committee and representatives of the member of parliament. As they showed much positivity and eager to know how best the Canadian government can be of support to have a fully funded Global Fund.
Loyce Maturu
Loyce also visited Toronto with ONE where she met with activists and sat down for an interview.
During her trip to Ottawa, Loyce also took over the Instagram account of Results Canada.
During her time in Ottawa Loyce met with Canadian MPs including executives from the Women’s Caucus and the Global Health Caucus Co-Chair Dean Allison.
“I will not remain silent, I want to share my story, so that people can have an understanding of how it is like living with HIV. If it was not for the Global Fund I would not be here today. If we do not step up the fight now, we risk losing the gains we have made in combating the epidemics. To get back on track we need a scaled up response to end the epidemics, like HIV.”
Loyce Maturu
Loyce also had an opportunity to be a part of a panel discussion – Why the Global Fund is a Good Investment for Canada – with a number of other panelists including Canadian advocate Stephen Lewis, and Francois Vanni.