G8 Foreign Ministers call on Donors to support Global Fund
13 April 2012
Reform agenda endorsed
GENEVA – The Global Fund today hailed a call by G8 Foreign Ministers for new donors to support the organization’s lifesaving work as a ringing endorsement of major reforms that are underway to strengthen the Global Fund’s management and financial oversight.
G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Washington on April 12 also called on existing donors to meet their pledges of support and appealed to implementing countries to show leadership in taking on health challenges.
“The G8 supports the call for an AIDS-free generation and efforts to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment, care, and support with respect to HIV/AIDS. The G8 renews and recommits to supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria on the tenth anniversary of its establishment and as the Fund adopts a comprehensive reform agenda,” said the statement.
It added: “The G8 encourages all donors to meet their pledges, calls upon new donors to join our common efforts to support the Fund, and requests that implementing countries redouble their support for shared responsibility through increased leadership and financing in addressing these critical health challenges.”
The G8 also reaffirmed a commitment to “global efforts to improve maternal, new-born, and child health in developing countries.” The three diseases take a heavy toll on children. For example, more than 85 per cent of all malaria deaths were children under the age of 5. Every year, 400,000 babies are born HIV-positive.
The Global Fund’s General Manager, Gabriel Jaramillo, has overseen accelerating changes at the Global Fund, focusing on a transformation of grant management with simpler procedures that make it easier to access funding and facilitate operations in the field.
"We are delighted by the statement of strong support for the Global Fund by G8 Foreign Ministers. We are committed to do even better what we already do best, which is to save lives," Mr. Jaramillo said. "We want to assure all our donors that taxpayer money is being handled carefully and effectively to achieve the best possible results."