GENEVA, 9 May 2012—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes today’s announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria that an additional US$ 1.6 billion will be available for new commitments over the next three years.
“This ushers in a new era for the Global Fund and I am pleased to see that it is opening the door to new partnerships,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The Global Fund must keep firmly focused on country successes and continue to leverage resources to ensure that countries can reach their goals and that more lives are saved.”
Resources available for HIV from international sources have been declining in recent years, hampering countries’ efforts to scale-up programmes. Many countries responded to the shortfall with an increase in domestic spending for HIV. The volatility of resource availability has slowed the provision of HIV prevention and treatment services.
The renewed focus on shared responsibility of donors and governments provides an opportunity to build new partnership frameworks which allow countries and communities to take the lead in determining their priorities to meet the 2015 targets as outlined in the 2011 UN Political Declaration on AIDS.
The Global Fund in its reform process must continue to put countries first. UNAIDS urges the Global Fund to make the additional resources available to countries as quickly as possible. UNAIDS will continue to work closely with the Global Fund, countries and communities to ensure the resources are invested transparently in effective and evidence informed programmes to achieve the best results for people.
