|
When I was first heard of the Global Fund, I thought it sounds a bit like the World Bank? Surely just another way to manage international debt and distribute money to governments. That was my first assumption. My second was, why do we need another bank for the world, surely its just going to make things more complicated?
Wrong on both counts.
The Global Fund, founded in 2002, is actually something very different form the World Bank. Its much simpler, as you can see from this video. It is an organisation dedicated solely to fighting HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. So it is integral for the achievement of the sixth millennium development goal.
It was former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s dream to create an institution like the Global Fund. His analogy is that as humans we are all in the same boat when it comes to global disease. If one end of the boat gets a hole in it, we’re all at risk. How big that boat is depends on your perspective, but I don’t think its big enough to pretend we can’t see it at all.
So why are we writing about the Global fund? Well, because its working incredibly well. Michael Kazatchkine is the executive Director of the Global Fund, and testifies to its success. In 2001 hardly anyone in developing countries were being treated for AIDS, today it is over 4 million people.
Two thirds of all international funding to fight Tuberculosis and Malaria is now being channelled through the Global Fund, because it has been recognised for its effectiveness.
It is effective because of its flexibility. It does not naively believe that there is one model to deliver treatment worldwide. Programs need to be at the very least, country specific, and this requires the input of local people because they are the ones who really know what will work in their community.
Furthermore, it frames HIV, TB and Malaria as epidemics, and you cannot fight an epidemic alone; a vast network of people is needed. It is perhaps the global scale that might make the challenge seem overwhelming, but when you think about it, nearly everything is global these days. There should really be no problem in forming a worldwide commitment to fight something that will potentially harm us all.
Michael Kazatchkine asserts that the post Global Fund picture is radically different to the era before it was founded. The statistics demonstrate the how many more people are receiving treatment, but what is astounding is the lack of awareness of this achievement. The majority of people that I speak to about poverty issues seem to think things are at a standstill, when they most definitely are not. The Global Fund is just one institution channelling money to fight three diseases, there are so many more doing equally great work.
Right now, the world's biggest donors - governments, private foundations and large organisations - are considering how much money the Global Fund will have for the next three years to fight these diseases. Although the Global Fund has achieved some huge successes in the last few years, pressures on budgets around the world mean that there's real concern that the Global Fund won't be given enough money to really scale up its work, and continue to step up the fight against these diseases.
That's why we've teamed up with our partners at RESULTS UK, and are giving people the in the UK the chance to write to your local MP about the Global Fund. If you're in another country, you can use the same information as the base to contact your local politicians to ask them to ensure that your government does their bit too.
|
Design by 
