Since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, donor government assistance for global AIDS relief has largely fallen flat. According to the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation, donor governments disbursed $7.6 billion in international HIV and AIDS assistance in 2011, compared with $7.7 billion annually in both 2008 and 2009. Against this backdrop, the global AIDS community is increasingly looking to philanthropic donors to help fill an estimated $7 billion gap in HIV and AIDS funding.
“We are in an era where shared responsibility for the AIDS response is vitally important … Philanthropic investments for AIDS are extremely important, particularly in supporting civil society led engagement which can often be missing from larger-scale donor funding plans,” asserted Paul De Lay, deputy executive director for UNAIDS’ program branch, earlier this month.
A recently released report from Funders Concerned About AIDS and the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group reveals that philanthropic donors are gradually stepping up their support for global AIDS relief. Private AIDS-related funding from U.S. and European philanthropic donors reached $644 million in 2011, up by 5 percent from 2010.