Funders Concerned About AIDS Applauds Partners’ Commitments to the Global Fund

By Juliet Glassroth September 17, 2016

Calls for Increased, Well-Aligned Funding from Public and Philanthropic Sectors

Today, donor and implementing countries, along with civil society and the philanthropic sector, committed nearly $13 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) for the next three years. In so doing, the world is one step closer to its goal of defeating these diseases by the year 2030.

Of the achievement, John Barnes, Executive Director of Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) said:

“The Global Fund was established as a partnership model and there is no question that the model has proven successful. Since 2004, the Global Fund has helped to reduce AIDS-related deaths by 45% in the countries in which it invests[i]. Although the lion’s share of Global Fund resources are provided by donor governments, the private and philanthropic sectors have made important contributions to the more than US$30 billion mobilized since the institution’s inception.

Our deadline — set by the Sustainable Development Goals —  for ending AIDS as a public health threat is 2030. Today is one milestone on that path. The nearly $13 billion mobilized through the Global Fund is only a portion of the resources required, which are estimated to reach an annual high of $26.2 billion by 2020.[ii]

There remains a critical need for increased, focused funding to meet our goal. To do so, FCAA:

  • Urges the Global Fund to base Replenishment goals on need rather than what may be considered an attainable goal.
  •  Is hopeful that bilateral funders will reverse the downward trajectory of donor support for HIV, started in 2015, by not only fully funding the Global Fund, but also expanding bilateral commitments that assist heavily burdened, resource limited countries in addressing their epidemics.
  • Supports the establishment of equitable disbursements that consider a range of relevant indicators rather than solely base them on country income levels that were neither intended for this purpose nor responsive to the need.
  •  Recognizes that the only certain way to end AIDS is to ensure the needs of women, children and the most vulnerable, most impacted populations are addressed, and their human rights upheld.

FCAA is proud that philanthropic resources have grown dramatically, becoming an integral component to both Global Fund contributions and the global HIV and AIDS response as a whole. Because the fight is not yet won, we urge continued and increased collaboration between the philanthropic sector and public funders to allocate robust and well-aligned funds to reach the populations most at risk.

Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is within reach. However, without mobilizing adequate funding within a short timeframe, the world’s most inspiring movement for the right to health will have been in vain.”