Germany hosted the Second Meeting of the Global Fund's Second Voluntary Replenishment in Berlin, 26 - 28 September 2007. More than 50 delegations from donor countries, the private sector, civil society and UN partner organizations were expected.

The meeting commenced with the launch of a new initiative that has the potential to bring in a substantial amount of resources for Global Fund-supported programs. The initiative, called "Debt2Health," aims to demonstrate that debt relief can help fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Debt conversion is a mechanism whereby a creditor or a group of creditors agrees to cancel a portion of a country's debt on the condition that the beneficiary invests an agreed-upon amount in a Global Fund-approved program. The German government made the first offer to forgo repayment of 50 million Euros on the condition that Indonesia invests the equivalent of 25 million Euros in health through approved Global Fund programs.

Replenishment meeting participants also discussed the scale up of gender sensitive responses in health programs as well as the evolving partnership between civil society and the Global Fund. Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the official portion of the meeting during which international donors pledged their contributions to the Global Fund for the next three years.

The meeting was chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and co-chaired by Sven Sandström, former Managing Director of the World Bank. The Global Fund's total funding need for 2008-2010 is US$ 12-18 billion. This money will be used to support existing grants and also to fund new ones to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

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