PRESS
RELEASE
29 January 2002
FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TB AND MALARIA ISSUES CALL
FOR FUNDING PROPOSALS
Funding Criteria Announced and Board of Directors Elected;
First Round of Grants To Be Awarded in April
GENEVA, 29 January 2002 - The Fund to fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, set up to help combat these three
diseases that kill a daunting six million people a year,
has approved its first call for funding proposals from country
partnerships hard hit by the epidemics. The initial round
of grants, to be awarded in April, will be the first made
from the Fund, which was initiated last year by an alliance
of private donors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
foundations, national governments and intergovernmental
organizations.
"The
Fund is an unprecedented cooperative effort to combat the
world's deadliest epidemics," said Paul Ehmer, Team Leader
of the Secretariat. "Today, we are taking a major step forward,
moving rapidly to get these resources to the people that
need them most. This is not just a matter of caring and
compassion -- it is economically wise as well. The diseases
we are addressing have a terrible impact both on human lives
and on economic development." A report released recently
by leading economists and health experts reaffirms that
healthy people are essential to a nation's economic prosperity.
The
Fund will finance plans developed through country partnerships
in severely affected countries as well as in areas with
growing epidemics. It will also support plans in countries
that have demonstrated the highest level political commitment
to eradicating these diseases. Its approach will be integrated
and balanced, covering prevention, treatment, and care and
support in dealing with the three diseases.
Proposals
will be funded rapidly, with minimum red tape, but with
enough safeguards to make sure funds are used responsibly
and effectively. Also, the Fund will finance projects that
are most likely to clearly demonstrate measurable success.
To date, industrialized and developing countries, corporations,
foundations and individuals have pledged some US$ 1.9 billion
to the Fund, including a US$ 200 million pledged by the
US yesterday. Up to US$ 700 million are expected to be disbursed
in 2002. While this is an important start, far more resources
are needed. The Fund's aim is to attract significant additional
resources that will increase the pool of money already available
to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
"To
be able to responsibly spend millions of dollars in a way
that will make a measurable difference takes time," said
Mr Ehmer. "We must get it right."
The
Purpose of the Fund
At
a meeting concluded today in Geneva, the newly-elected Board
of Directors approved a call for proposals and finalized
a set of guidelines for their submission, which are designed
to help potential recipient country partnerships apply for
funding. The guidelines explain eligibility, application
procedures, the types of project the Fund is prepared to
support, and the criteria on which funding decisions will
be based. The guidelines also explain the proposal review
process, and provide details on how the projects will be
monitored and evaluated.
"The
Fund will support interventions based on best practice that
have the potential to fight the three diseases effectively
and with lasting results," said Paul Ehmer. "AIDS, tuberculosis
and malaria have a devastating global impact. The objective
of the Fund is to raise significant new resources to fight
them, and to apply these resources in the most strategic
and intelligent manner possible. The streamlined grant-making
process we are announcing today is designed to minimize
unnecessary delays, and maximize the support available for
front-line efforts to control these epidemics."
The Fund is an independent, public-private partnership
whose cornerstone objective is to help save lives by making
an ongoing and significant contribution to reducing infections,
illness and death. It was created to share resources and
expertise across national boundaries and private and public
sectors in order to make significant progress in fighting
AIDS, TB and malaria. These three diseases have a devastating
global impact and together are responsible for nearly six
million deaths a year - 10% of the world's total - as well
as unimaginable social and economic hardship. Together,
the three diseases are responsible for more than one-third
of all deaths in Africa. HIV/AIDS kills about half - three
million deaths in 2001 - while malaria and TB share the
rest of the burden.
How
the Fund is Administered
A unique feature of the Fund is its composition.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) sit on the Board with
two voting seats, as does the private sector. The NGO seats,
one from a developing country and one from an industrialized
one, belong to the German Institute for Medical Mission
and to Health Rights Action from Uganda. The private sector
has two seats, one for foundations, held by the Gates Foundation,
and the other for private companies, represented by Anglo-American
PLC.
All
members were chosen by their own constituencies - governments,
NGOs and the private sector. Board members are appointed
for two years, with equal representation - seven seats each
- from donor and developing country governments.
Donor
countries represented on the Board are France, Italy, Japan,
Sweden, the UK, the US and the European Commission. Some
of these seats have alternates and will rotate among countries.
The seven developing countries on the Board include, China,
Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine.
In addition to regular Board members, the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization
(WHO), along with the World Bank, which handles the
Fund's finances, hold ex-officio non-voting seats on the
Board. The Board's composition includes a person living
with or affected by HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria, also in a non-voting
seat.
The Fund will not be business as usual. Nor will it be a
large bureaucracy. A small Secretariat located in Geneva
manages the Fund's work and recruitment of the permanent
executive head and staff is beginning. Meantime, an interim
Secretariat is being staffed by secondments from UN organizations
and governments.
The
Road to the Fund
The
concept of a fund was initially raised 18 months ago at
the G-8 summit in Okinawa. The notion was endorsed at the
UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June
2001 and again at the G-8 Summit in Genoa under the Italian
presidency in July 2001. It was championed by UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, whose calls for stronger action kept attention
focused on the Fund. Shortly thereafter, a Transitional
Working Group (TWG) was set up to establish a new
Fund, broadened to include tuberculosis and malaria.
During
its mandate, the TWG - made up of more than 40 representatives
from developing and donor countries, NGOs, the private sector,
foundations and associations of people living or affected
by HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria -negotiated the design and operations
of the Fund, including its legal status, management
structure, financial systems and general eligibility criteria.
This process involved three meetings of the TWG, regional
consultations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern
Europe, and thematic consultations with civil society, the
private sector and academia. At its last meeting in December
2001, the TWG handed over its package of recommendations
to the new Board and was dissolved.
Mobilizing
additional public and private resources will be a key goal
for the Fund. The Fund's second board meeting will take
place towards the end of April in New York.