Global Fund Agreement on Privileges and Immunities Enters into Force
17 April 2019
GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced today that its Agreement on Privileges and Immunities has entered into force, effective today.
An important institutional milestone, the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities establishes critical protections and rights for the Global Fund’s staff and resources, enabling them to better achieve the mission of accelerating the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The Agreement on Privileges and Immunities is intended to ensure that Global Fund, its resources and its staff are protected against legal proceedings that could endanger the mission.
“We are very pleased to recognize this important step to solidify the Global Fund’s standing as an international organization,” said Fady Zeidan, General Counsel of the Global Fund. “To achieve our mission, we need critical protections and rights in the countries we aim to serve.”
The Privileges and Immunities Agreement entered into force today after Senegal became the tenth country to ratify it. As a result of this development, the Global Fund now enjoys privileges and immunities in the ten countries that ratified the agreement (Eswatini, Ethiopia, Georgia, Liberia, Malawi, Moldova, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, and Togo) in addition to the four other countries (Switzerland, the United States, Uganda and Zimbabwe) that granted similar protections to the Global Fund under their domestic laws.
The Global Fund Board has repeatedly affirmed the importance of privileges and immunities, acknowledging the challenges and risks faced by Global Fund and its staff without such protections.
The Global Fund Secretariat strongly encourages all countries to signal their commitment to protection and safeguarding of Global Fund resources through their adhesion to the Privileges and Immunities Agreement. The Secretariat will continue to engage with all partners to achieve this objective and provide any support that may be required in relation to further approval and ratification of the agreement.