On Tuesday, the Obama administration is expected to announce a three-year, $4 billion pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and at the same time to press the Geneva-based organization for reforms. The United States - by far the largest contributor to the fund, with more than $5.1 billion donated since 2002 - is asking the fund to speed up disbursements, cut bureaucracy, and review grant proposals more critically.
The Global Fund must develop an "action agenda" with timelines and measurements, "so that all parties concerned . can be held accountable," according to a senior administration official. The United States will measure progress annually as it considers contributions beyond 2013, the official said.
Global Fund executives welcomed the anticipated US pledge and reform push. "We look forward to working with the US to further enhance reforms we're already undertaken and to listen to any other suggestions for improvements," said a fund spokesperson. The Global Fund is aiming to raise at least $13 billion, and as much as $20 billion, from more than 40 countries, private foundations, and corporations between 2011 and 2013. So far, pledges for the past three years have totaled $9.7 billion.
The expected US pledge represents a 38 percent increase over the $2.9 billion it contributed between fiscal years 2008 and 2010. Though it is a multi-year pledge, it will be subject to Congressional appropriation each year.
AIDS campaigners welcomed the new US commitment, saying its length and amount could prompt other donors to step up their own giving. They noted, however, that it falls short of the $6 billion, three-year pledge that 100 Congressional representatives called for in a July letter to President Barack Obama.
10/05/10
GLOBAL: US Will Increase AIDS Fund Donation
Source: Wall Street Journal:: Betsy McKay; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention