In April 2004, Bernard van Leer Foundation (Netherlands), Firelight Foundation (US) and International HIV/AIDS Alliance (UK) joined together in an ad-hoc international coalition - the Coalition on Children Affected by AIDS (CCABA). With seed money provided by the two foundations, a Toronto-based consultant was hired in April 2005.

The CCABA Projects Coordinator soon identified that The Teresa Group was organizing a 2-day pre-conference symposium. CCABA soon decided that supporting that symposium would become part of the coalition’s mandate. The Teresa Group also agreed to be the fiscal agent through which money fund-raised for both CCABA and the symposium would flow.

CCABA members were recruited from among other major funders and organizations providing technical expertise. A funders collaborative was launched, and all the key elements were in place to begin our work.

At the Toronto conference, we saw some improvement in terms of highlighting children's issues, and the symposium was a great success. However, it was clear that this project would need to be a longer term venture. CCABA felt that working to influence international meetings was only one part of a broader strategy. After an environmental scan of which coalitions were doing what work related to HIV/AIDS and children, CCABA settled on new Terms of Reference, which have since revised several times.

These terms spell out that CCABA is an independent collaborative composed of private or public funders and re-granting organizations, from both the North and the South, that provide grants to improve the lives of young children living in the context of HIV/AIDS. CCABA is supported by a wider network of technical experts and civil society groups who work on children’s issues. Through our activities, our collective goal is to improve the lives of young children affected by HIV/AIDS.