Significant roundtable meeting on The Global Fund attended by RESULTS

On August 22 our National Manager,  Maree Nutt,  attended a roundtable meeting hosted by Bill Bowtell AO, Executive Director of Pacific Friends of the Global Fund and Andrew Hewett, Executive Director of Oxfam Australia.  Attending the meeting were Global Fund representatives Gabriel Jaramillo, General Manager, Dr Mphu Ramatlapeng, Vice Chair (and former Health Minister in Lesotho) and Dr Christoph Benn, Director, Resource Mobilization and Donor Relations of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Sr Jaramillo, Dr Ramatlapeng and Dr Benn visited Australia to meet with Senator Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs, other  Ministers and Members of Parliament, bureaucrats, research institutions, the community sector and business leaders to brief them on the Global Fund’s contribution towards preventing and treating HIV & AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.  

On the Solomon Islands, newly qualified nurse Rose visits a family of 13, where one daughter died of tuberculosis, and three others received treatment and survived. Rose was trained in TB detection, testing and treatment as part of a national strategy to further reduce the TB burden in the Solomon Islands, with support from the Global Fund. Photo: The Global Fund / John Rae.

The Global Fund is a unique, public-private partnership and international financing institution dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents an innovative approach to international health financing. 

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the main financier of programs to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, with approved funding of US$ 22.9 billion for more than 1,000 programs in 151 countries. To date, programs supported by the Global Fund have provided AIDS treatment for 3.6 million people, anti-Tuberculosis treatment for 9.3 million people and 270 million insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of Malaria. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organisations to supplement existing efforts in dealing with the three diseases.

The roundtable meeting was an opportunity for Australian stakeholders to discuss the work of the Global Fund and what it means for Australia and the Pacific region.

Please click here for a full-report on the Global Fund's regional results report (2011)

Approximately a third of Australia’s total foreign aid funding goes to support multilateral organisations.  The effectiveness of these organisations were reviewed recently in the Australian Multilateral Assessment and though the Global Fund scored highly in the “Results and relevance” category there was room for improvement in “Organisational behaviour”.

Under the leadership of General Manager Jamarillo, the Global Fund has subsequently undergone significant reforms in order for it to be even more effective in its activities as it looks ahead to the next 10 years of operation. The Global Fund executives acknowledged the Australian government, the private sector and civil society organisations such as RESULTS for our partnership and ongoing support.

The Global Fund will be looking to Australia for leadership as it plans for the next replenishment meeting to be held in the second half of 2013. As part of our ongoing advocacy around the Global Fund,  RESULTS staff and volunteers will be raising this issue in meetings with Parliamentarians in Canberra on 29 to 30 October 2012. 

If you would like to join us please contact kate@results.org.au