Despite the $750 million donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria still has a funding shortfall of over $1 billion, which only allows for the continuation of its existing programs between 2011 and 2013.
So far, donors have contributed $2.64 billion for this period, but the Global Fund expects to receive more than $10 billion. In light of the less-than-expected funding commitments garnered during the latest pledge round, the Wall Street Journal reports that the organization’s new general manager, Gabriel Jaramillo, will work to strengthen fund forecasting and boost fundraising efforts later in the year.
Leading donors to the Global Fund in the public and private spheres are expected to continue their contributions until they meet their pledges by the end of 2013. The following summarizes the funding flows from those donors.
United States
In 2010, the United States announced a $4 billion pledge to the Global Fund over three years. The U.S. Congress appropriates the largest portion funding for this global financing entity each fiscal year under President Barack Obama’s Global Health Initiative. The United States was involved in the initial negotiations for structuring the Global Fund and therefore has a permanent seat on the organization’s board. As the Fund’s leading donor, it also performs key governance and oversight roles. To date, the U.S. has committed $9.5 billion and contributed $6.1 billion to the Fund.
France
France is the second largest donor of the Global Fund and the biggest contributor among members of the European Union, pledging a total of $3.9 billion and contributing $2.9 billion. The country committed $1.4 billion over three years in 2010 and its funding will be channeled through the French Development Agency or AFD. The French connection extends to First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkosy’s role as Global Fund ambassador.
United Kingdom
In its latest multilateral aid review, the United Kingdom assessed the Global Fund and found that the organization offers very good value for its money. Of the total $2.3 billion pledged to the Global Fund, the United Kingdom has disbursed $1.7 billion to date. The country’s health aid contribution aims to provide HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, as well as tackle malaria. Specifically, through the Global Fund, the United Kingdom seeks to provide 37,000 HIV-positive women with treatment to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies and 268,000 people with AIDS treatment. Halving malaria deaths in ten of the worst affected countries by 2015 is a key development priority for the United Kingdom and it plans to achieve this goal through increasing the number of treated bed nets and improving the diagnosis and treatment of malaria.
Japan
Strongly committed to fighting the “Big 3”of communicable diseases, Japan’s new global health policy is an integral part of its foreign affairs strategy. Under this policy, Japan strengthens its support for the Global Fund through further financial contributions, and increased synergies between the organization’s health programs and Japanese bilateral assistance. On top of the $1.4 billion disbursed by Japan to the Global Fund, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced just recently that the government is making preparations to donate $340 million this year in keeping with the $800 million pledge made in 2011. Japan’s health aid, coursed through the Global Fund, aims to avert approximately 470,000 deaths by AIDS; 990,000 deaths by tuberculosis, and 3.3 million deaths by malaria.
Germany
Along with Denmark and the European Commission, Germany suspended its aid to the Fund early last year because of corruption reports from the organization’s internal inspector general. It was alleged that up to $34 million in funds were misused in nine recipient countries. In response, the Global Fund made several reforms including the creation of an independent panel of experts to review the Fund’s financial procedures and the adoption of a comprehensive plan to improve the organization’s risk management governance. Germany reinstated its funding pledge to deliver €200 million ($262 million) by the end of the year following these improvements. To date, Germany has pledged $2 billion in funding, with a total of $1.5 billion already disbursed.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
In a show of faith despite donor consternation over the Fund’s corruption findings, Bill Gates donated a $750 million promissory note through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Global Fund. These additional funds follow the foundation’s $650 million contribution, which immediately increase the amount of available spending for the Fund’s day-to-day programming. This raises the foundation’s total pledges to $1.4 billion, which makes it the single largest private donor to the Fund.
Read more:
Juan Carlos Concepcion and Christine Dugay contributed to this report.
