The fight to reauthorize PEPFAR, the U.S. global AIDS initiative credited with saving 25 million lives over two decades, looks like it may have a resolution — albeit a short-term one.
U.S. lawmakers are poised to give a 12-month reauthorization for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, extending it through late March 2025, as part of the 2024 foreign affairs budget bill, likely to be released imminently, several sources told Devex.
PEPFAR’s reauthorization was derailed last year amid a campaign by conservative and anti-abortion activists to paint it as a source of funding for abortion. While those accusations are unsubstantiated, and U.S. law prevents aid dollars from supporting abortions, the issue continues to cast a shadow over the program’s long-term reauthorization.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
