On December 2nd and 3rd, the U.S. Government hosted world leaders in Washington, DC for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Fourth Replenishment Conference entitled, “No Time to Lose: Sharing the Responsibility to Save Lives.” Over the course of the two days, government and private sector donors pledged to commit a combined US$ 12 billion to fund Global Fund programs in 2014-2016, a 30 percent increase over the last pledging conference held in 2010. Though the total pledges fall short of the $15 billion target announced in March 2013, Global Fund representatives, partners and stakeholders emphasized that the pledging conference was a starting point for ongoing resource mobilization and partnership brokering throughout 2014–2016.

U.S. Secretary of ­State John Kerry, Executive Director of the Global Fund Mark Dybul, philanthropist Bill Gates and UN Ambassador Samantha Power attended the conference, as did senior representatives from UNAIDS, UNICEF, governments and Global Fund corporate partners such as Chevron, Eli Lilly and Vale.

Private sector corporations and foundations actively participated in replenishment events. Private Sector Board Member Paul Schaper (Executive Director Global Health Policy, Merck/MSD) and Alternate Board Member Renuka Gadde (Vice President for Global Health, BD) represented the Global Fund Private Sector Delegation (PSD) at the conference. Representatives from PSD member companies including Chevron, Eli Lilly, Mylan, Product (RED) and Vale also attended the conference and related side events.

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Expanding Private Sector Partnership in the 4^th Replenishment

Government Donors Renew Commitments

Building on Recent Results

 

Expanding Private Sector Partnership in the 4^thReplenishment

On December 2nd, the Global Fund and (RED) co-hosted a reception focusing on private sector partnerships. Private sector companies and foundations pledged over $600 million to the 4^thReplenishment, including:

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $500 million over the next three years, including $300 million in previously-announced pledges and up to $200 million to match commitments from other donors.
• Product (RED): $40 million over the next two years, bringing their total contribution to $250 million by 2015. Product (RED) also recently announced the results of their November 2013 charity auction, in which sales of $13 million were matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to total $26 million in new contributions to the Fund.
• Chevron: $5 million over two years, bringing the total 8-year investment by the company, the Global Fund’s single largest corporate partner, to $60 million. Chevron’s contribution supports programs targeting the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Nigeria.
• BHP Billiton: $10 million over three years to help achieve universal malaria prevention coverage in Mozambique.
• Vale: $3 million over three years to support malaria efforts in Malawi and Mozambique.
• Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: $3 million over three years, part of a 10-year, $10 million contribution to strengthen the capacity of health workers in Africa.
• Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and the Ecobank Foundation: $3 million over three years, including provision of pro-bono services to Global Fund grant recipients.

In addition, two major partnerships were announced under the Global Fund’s new Innovation Coalition initiative, in which private sector companies will contribute their core expertise, assets and technical knowledge to address challenges, develop cost-effective solutions and enhance the impact of Global Fund-supported programs. Eli Lilly and Company and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations announced a partnership with the Fund to combat fake medicines through advocacy, data improvement and capacity building, to ensure that authentic medicines successfully reach patients in need. SAP AG unveiled a partnership with Grant Management Solutions to develop a grant oversight management platform that will improve grant performance, monitoring and evaluation.

Government Donors Renew Commitments

At the closed-door pledging session on December 3rd, governments announced country pledges for the 4th Replenishment. The United States, the Global Fund’s largest donor and the host of the 4^th Replenishment, announced a starting pledge of $4 billion, with the possibility of increasing to a total three-year contribution of $5 billion if additional pledges are made by others. In a parallel event in recognition of World AIDS Day this week, President Barack Obama underlined US support for the Global Fund, reiterating a promise to pledge $1 for every $2 committed by other donors through September 2014.

Most existing major donors renewed or increased their pledges to the Global Fund. The governments of Japan and Canada increased their three-year commitments by 40 percent (to $800 million) and 20 percent (to $612 million), respectively, over their 2010 pledges. Several countries that had previously signaled major pledges for 2014-2016 restated their commitments at the replenishment conference, including France ($1.5 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.6 billion), Germany ($815 million) and the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland (joint announcement of $750 million). Emerging economies including Nigeria, Mexico, China, India, and Thailand also made pledges. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Health, said African countries were on the right track in sharing responsibility and making increased investments in health.

Building on Recent Results

The new $12 billion commitments will allow the Global Fund to build on recent successes and accelerate impacts in the fight to defeat AIDS, TB and malaria globally. In late November, the Fund announced its latest impact results, showing a substantial increase in the number of people being treated for HIV, the distribution of insecticide-treated nets to combat malaria, and treatment for TB:

• 6.1 million people living with HIV received antiretroviral therapy (an increase of 1.9 million in 2013 alone)
• 360 million insecticide-treated nets were distributed to protect families from malaria (50 million in 2013)
• 11.2 million new smear-positive TB cases were detected and treated (1.5 million in 2013)

Over the coming three-year period, the Global Fund has committed to continue driving innovative partnerships with governments, civil society, UN agencies, the private sector and key affected communities that combat the three diseases.