Ms. Mafu, Head, Political and Civil Society Advocacy Department, External Relations and Communication Division is an activist with over 20 years of experience in policy advocacy and partnership development with demonstrated history of working within African and Global context.

She started her career in Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, where she developed strategies and worked with partners and stakeholders for policy change. She also mobilized communities to advocate for their access to treatment, worked on national Treatment Literacy program for HIV Treatment and worked with communities, donors, and governments in African neighboring countries. Next, as an Executive Director to Amnesty International, South Africa, she worked as an activist to set up and enhance existing Civil Society platforms, provided strategic interventions for advocacy and lobbying and ensured youth, women, and key populations’ participation in national debates. She continued her work as Africa Regional Coordinator for Worlds AIDS Campaign, where she set up a civil society platform on health financing, mobilized resources for advocacy in the Sub-Saharan Africa and used Global Platforms to raise issues affecting people living with HIV and facilitated dialogues with youth sector, women, and health movement.

Ms. Mafu is working for the Global Fund from 2012 and as the Head of Political and Civil Society Department, she leads a team working on resource mobilization to invest in high impact interventions and she collaborates with Heads of States from implementing countries and Champions to support the work of the Global Fund with their voices. She also works with Ministries of Health and Ministries of Finance to increase domestic resources allocations to global health and amongst other duties, she manages partnerships with multilateral partners and provides briefings to regional and national civil society partners.

Ms. Mafu is a professional PHD Candidate at the University of Monarch Business school, Switzerland. She also holds an MBA in Leadership coaching and mentoring at York St. John University as well as an MSc in Human Resources Development at the University of Salford, Manchester.

Her work is influenced by her passion as a human rights defender and her philosophy is defined by the motto: “The fire in your belly has to be stronger than the fire outside”.