Today, the world marks exactly ten years since countries, civil society and the private sector all came together to launch The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – an innovative way of delivering aid that differed from other models.
Established in response to the terror and havoc caused by these once largely unchecked diseases, the unprecedented success of the Global Fund has transformed global health. Now, this unique public-private partnership stands as a clear demonstration of the scale of what is truly possible when we all work together.
As Kofi Annan – who as Secretary-General of the UN helped instigate the birth of the Global Fund – reflects:
'Many people said that the plan was unrealistic and the call for a war chest was a dream, but great achievements always start with a dream, and the progress we have made in the fight against the three diseases is proof that dreams can be realised.'
And the ‘proof’ is staggering. Since its inception in 2002, grants from the Global Fund have saved nearly 8 million lives. That’s an estimated 100,000 lives saved each month! Further, in the fight against AIDS alone, 6.6 million people in low and middle-income countries are on AIDS treatment, up from 200,000 a decade ago. Even more amazingly, access to AIDS treatment has increased over 3000% since the beginning of the Global Fund.
True, the Global Fund has not been without its challenges, as the occasional allegations of corruption illustrate. But there can be no denying that the Global Fund has – according to an independent high-level review – “made ordinary and expected what was unthinkable in dozens of nations ten years ago.”
Yet, as it celebrates its 10th birthday, the Global Fund’s live-saving work is at risk of grinding to a halt. As we reported back in November, the GF Board was recently forced to cancel its next round of grant-making and to announce that it would not be making any new grants for the next two years. This decision was made following the default by several donor countries on their payments to the Fund.
There can be no doubt that the Fund’s decision will adversely affect the progress that has been made over the last ten years. By cancelling its next round of grants, the Fund will effectively be forced to turn away new patients. This is a tragedy that must be prevented.
Key donors like the US, UK and Australia - crucial to the Fund’s success – should maintain, if not increase, their financial support now more than ever. Perhaps more importantly, they should also do everything they can to encourage new donors and ensure other existing donor countries keep their commitments.
Indeed, it would be a shame for all of humanity if, after coming so far, we let the progress made over the last decade be reversed. As Hilary Clinton said back in November: “To sit on the sidelines now would be devastating. It would cost lives, and we would miss out on this unprecedented opportunity. When so many people are suffering, and we have the means to help them, we have an obligation to do what we can.”
Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan speaks exclusively to Gary Nunn from the See Africa Differently team about transformations in Africa and how we can transform perceptions of the continent. We have republished the interview below, to read the original article click here.
Gary Nunn (GN): See Africa Differently is a campaign to showcase the under-reported progress from Africa. As Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, what do you predict will be the largest area of progress for Africa in the next decade?
Kofi Annan: In the past several years, there has been an enormous leap in information and communications technology (ICT) usage in Africa and I believe what we’ve seen so far is just the beginning.
Over the last decade, internet usage on the continent has increased by over two thousand percent. Africa has gone from having hardly any undersea fibre optic cables in 2000 to having nine that will connect almost all of Africa by 2012, reducing costs dramatically compared to satellite connectivity. At the same time, the continent has become the world’s second largest mobile market behind Asia – and the fastest growing. At present, more than one in three Africans owns a cellular phone.
These numbers are impressive and very promising. What I find even more impressive and promising, though, is how Africans around the continent are making use of these advancements - boosting the continent’s growth and facilitating a social transformation.
Small-scale agriculture and harvesting of natural resources provide livelihoods for over 70% of the African population. Having said this, most African farmers face numerous challenges on a daily basis, most of which have been aggravated by changes in the climate. Ever resourceful, Africans have embraced ICTs, as a means to access timely, appropriate and comprehensive agricultural information to support and improve their productivity.
We see similar progress in other sectors such as health care, where for example SMS codes are used to check for counterfeit drugs, and education, where just this week UNESCO unveiled an initiative to connect cellular phones to the classroom so as to provide additional support to teachers and students alike. In banking, M-PESA, originating from Kenya, is the first mobile money transfer service, anywhere in the world.
With greater access to the Internet, comes greater access to Facebook and Twitter. Never before has the world seen the extent to which these and other social networking sites can impact politics, as was seen this year in Africa. Africans throughout the continent have embraced social media as a way to voice their concerns, encourage and mobilise action, and bring about change. And in doing so, they have given a uniquely African meaning to the phrase ‘social media revolution’.
GN: One of the focuses of the Kofi Annan Foundation is sustainable development. What’s the greatest success story of sustainable development in Africa of the last decade?? ?
Kofi Annan: There are many wonderful success stories to be found across the continent. The change that I am most pleased to see is the green shoots of a uniquely African Green Revolution taking root in many countries.? ?
With the right investments throughout the agricultural value chain and an approach centered on empowering the small holder farmer – many of whom are women - I believe that Africa is now on the road to being able to feed itself. ??
The transformation of African agriculture into an engine of economic development has come about because of changes in government priorities and policies, development of the private sector, the creation of vibrant new partnerships, and an alignment of international aid with Africa’s priorities. ??
I have talked to smallholder farmers in Mali who tell me that high-yielding seeds and fertilizer are making a big difference to their livelihoods. Farmers are growing new varieties of sorghum, maize, and rice that are drought tolerant and disease resistant, and increasing their yields. ??
But more importantly I heard from them about their hopes for the future – that with more support they and their neighbors will do well year after year. ??
Similar aspirations are rising across the continent and African governments are stepping up to the challenge. In Ghana, agriculture has grown at an average of 5% a year for over 10 years. Malawi transformed itself into a net exporter of maize for four years running. Rwanda increased its food production by 15% in 2007 and 16% in 2008. In Tanzania, a government program supporting farmers through vouchers to purchase seeds and fertilizers enabled 700,000 smallholder farmers to produce five million tons of maize. And Mali now dedicates 14% of its national budget to agriculture in a concerted effort to change the future for its farmers.??
Across sub-Saharan Africa, 19 countries have put in place plans to accelerate their annual agricultural growth of 6% a year. ??
I hope that these developments will help to banish the image of Africa as a continent of disease, hunger and despair.??
GN: Recent ComRes polling we commissioned of 2,000 UK adults found that 1 in 5 misidentify Africa as a country and 62% associate Africa with corruption - but only 3% say Africa is 'good for business.' How should we clear up these misconceptions and portray a more diverse and positive depiction of African countries???
Kofi Annan: Africa is a diverse continent of 54 countries with hundreds of languages and cultures, and endowed with plenty of natural resources. Despite this rich diversity, Africa and its people are often reduced to a single sound-bite or image of helplessness. This stems from ignorance or bias. ??
Fortunately, this perception is being challenged. Increasingly, Africans are telling their own story - their voices amplified by new technologies and media. Civil society is growing and demanding more democratic and accountable governance. African entrepreneurs are creating new jobs and business on the continent and abroad. Sub-regional economic integration is increasing growth and opportunity.??
Over the past decade six of the world’s ten fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the past ten years, Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-on effect of the northern hemisphere’s slowdown, the IMF expects Africa to grow by 6% this year and nearly 6% in 2012, about the same as Asia.
The story of Africa today is that of a continent where there are incredible opportunities for growth and investment, where a young and dynamic population is making contributions in the area of business innovation, music, art, sport and social and environmental change. The road will be long and the challenges numerous but Africa has a story that no one can afford to ignore! ? ?
GN: What 3 words sum up a modern, progressive Africa to you? ??
Kofi Annan: Changing. Dynamic. Opportunity.
The Kofi Annan Foundation works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more secure world. Find out more here.
The Africa Progress Panel (APP) consists of a group of distinguished individuals chaired by Kofi Annan who generously lend their time to track and encourage progress in Africa, and to underscore shared responsibility between African leaders and their international partners for sustaining it. Find out more about APP here.
On a personal note, I was struck by polio at the age of five, but through an international cricket career lasting over a decade and a half, that never really worried me.
There were all kinds of theories in my playing days. That I was a contortionist who could rotate his wrist 360 degrees. That my fingers gripped the ball differently thanks to an attack of polio, and therefore confused batsmen. I was usually amused, but occasionally irritated. The truth was more mundane and more painful.
When I came down with a fever in 1951 or so, I could not offer a handshake since I could not raise my right arm. I think I was too young to be particularly worried, but my parents rushed me to the local hospital. I tried to shake the doctor’s hand as I had been taught to, but just could not do it. The doctor looked worried. So did my parents. They went into a huddle. I left the hospital with my right arm in plaster. Nobody told me what was wrong.
I had been struck by polio, and my right arm lacked all strength. When the plaster was removed, the right arm was significantly thinner than the left. But crucially, the disease had been arrested. Thereafter the arm was massaged by cod liver oil. I think I drank some of it too, although I am not very sure now. School children can be cruel – but nobody noticed my problem when I started going to school.
For the first two years, I could do nothing with my right arm. Gradually I reconciled myself to the idea that my right arm would never be the same again, nor would it grow into its normal strength. Even six years later, when I was 11 or so, I struggled to raise my right arm. But still I was taking lot of interest in cricket (I was playing Shuttle and Table Tennis also with left hand) and played for school, college, and my club rarely and I was also enjoying my tennis ball cricket in the backyard, streets and in small grounds At 18, I played my first inter-club match. That was in July of 1963. I hadn’t yet begun dreaming of playing in the Ranji Trophy, our national championship. Yet within six months, I was playing for India! I made my debut against Mike Smith’s England in January 1964. My captain was the great Nawab of Pataudi, and he indicated to me very early that he saw me as India’s main strike bowler, my business to take wickets!
It was incredible! India were led by a player with one good eye and depended on wickets on a bowler with one good arm. I bowled faster than your average leg spinner, and bowled a higher proportion of googlies and top spinners than most. From the outfield I threw in left handed. My right arm was for bowling, and I was happy to finish with 242 wickets from 58 Tests. More importantly, I had a role to play in India’s first wins in England (1971) and Australia (1977-78).
As I developed as a bowler, it was suggested that perhaps the attack of polio had been a blessing, allowing me to bowl ‘freakishly’. This is not true. It only meant I had to work harder to make up for the weakened right arm. Polio can never be a blessing. It is incurable. But it can be prevented. I was one of the lucky ones, given a glimpse of the horror and then withdrawn quickly from the edge. The disease is on the verge of being eradicated, and we must throw all our muscle behind that final push to ensure that it is gone forever.
It is my privilege to be here in Australia to celebrate India's milestone achievement - 12 months without a single case of polio. I know first-hand the impact of polio and I am encouraged to see, in my lifetime, India make significant inroads in the fight to end this paralysing disease.
Please join me in getting behind the heroes who are helping stop the spread of this paralysing disease, by uploading a message of support for India’s polio eradication team at http://www.theendofpolio.com/home/phototool-365no/
- Spin bowling legend, 1972 Wisden Cricketer of the Year and polio survivor, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar.
This is a message not about me, but for anyone and everyone who contributes to foreign aid. It gives people in extreme poverty the smallest opportunity to live without fear of tomorrow for themselves, their family, their community or their country.
This is an email I received recently:
Hi d'Arcy,
I am feeling alright these days; all the pains have gone, I can breathe normally, I can walk, I can work … thanks to you brother! I am always able to wake up to the rising sun, I am always able to see my son smiling at me because of you … you reconstructed my life, added joy to it, and made it enjoyable for my family.
Once again thank you for going out of your way to reach for me when I am in need.
Huge love,
Des
I am in a position of privilege where I can directly contribute to the quality of life of another. But this is only one example amongst of all the people and organisations who facilitate access and opportunities to the worlds bravest but most needy.
If you have ever given to Plan, WaterAid, Malaria No More, Opportunity International or other similarly effective organisations then Des’ message is to you.
Don’t worry about organisations’ admin costs or advertising because without it you would never reach anyone! Take pride when your government commits $2 million to education programs in Indonesia or $50 million to polio eradication, it is done in your name to give the same chance as I have been able to do for Des.
The background to this message is that I have not given a cent to Des to date. Des was a work colleague of mine in Ethiopia and a year ago he contracted a heart condition and was within days of dying. In what he thought were his final remaining days he managed to send a message to myself and a follow volunteer through facebook. I then organised a few people who knew Des to contribute information, examination and money to see a fast and affordable recovery for him. The results speak straight from the heart and email!
My role was no different to the many effective aid agencies except that it wasn’t the sole job that I dedicated myself to. While I was able to offer a few hours of my time do this not everyone can offer their professional skills and time and not get paid and survive – no matter how compassionate their heart is.
I think one of the main messages from Des’ email for me is YOU make a huge difference when you give to effective aid agencies which support people like Des in the thousands on a daily basis.
It is such a beautiful world for all of us to share with our brothers like Des and many others. Don’t be afraid to give. Give, and give hard and take Des’ message with you as that’s what the worlds most disadvantaged would be saying to you if they had access to international communication like Des is fortunate to have.
The garment industry employs around 15% of the entire Sri Lankan workforce, with apparel accounting for around half of the country’s total exports. It is fundamental for economic development; and with Sri Lanka being one of the top apparel producing countries in the world, it is equally vital to the development of the global industry.
But there is a little known, yet ultimately profound, difference between garment manufacture in Sri Lanka and that of the rest of Asia. The Daily Mirror referred to it as their “conscientious standpoint in apparel production”, back in 2009.
“Conscientious” is not a word usually associated with Asian garment production. Yet this concept is taken so seriously by Sri Lanka that they have a dedicated, government-backed trade association named Sri Lanka Apparel, running a campaign named “Garments without Guilt”. I recently discovered that this is exactly what the Sri Lankan textile industry represents.
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to read about Sri Lanka’s work and development in this area, when usually my research in this field results in nothing but an unsettling sense of despair.
In fact they have been so thoroughly committed to this ethos, that they are the only country in the entire world to have both a sizeable garment industry and to be a signatory of 31 conventions of the ILO (International Labour Organisation).
Not only that but the Brandix group, Sri Lanka’s biggest exporter of apparel, actually achieved a 20% growth in 2010, with 30% of its goods exported to the EU and a further 60% exported to the USA, despite economic recession on both sides of the pond.
Sri Lankan apparel exports for 2011 are up 45% on 2010, indicating that global buyers will in fact back sustainable, see-through fashion if the price and productivity are right. These figures also flout any preceding notion that human rights for workers or sustainable practices have a negative economic effect on the fashion industry.
As far back as August 2008, Brandix were awarded the Platinum Certificate for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) - the rating system of the US Green Building Council. Sri Lanka now has seven LEED apparel facilities with gold or platinum status.
More recently in July of this year, Brandix achieved another global first by becoming the first apparel manufacturer in the world to receive ISO 50001 certification, an exceptionally stringent energy management standard, introduced officially by the International Standards Organisation just a month previously on 17 June 2011.
The Brandix Eco Centre, a converted 30-year old factory, is a key manufacturing plant for Marks & Spencer and was inaugurated in April 2008 by its CEO, Sir Stuart Rose
Yet the Sri Lankan model appears to be a phenomenon in an industry overwhelmed by its own injustices to its most valuable asset – its workforce. Stories of mass fainting, malnourished employees, excessive hours and frantic disorganised strikes have become so common that many of us take the view the problem is too complicated to solve.
So what makes Sri Lanka so different?
Whilst government legislation is integral to the Sri Lankan model, these standards are actually supplier-driven. Suppliers are motivated not just by government incentives, but by a true desire to run efficient, powerful businesses whilst remaining honourable. This priceless differentiation in the world of apparel supply has come about by developing an industry-wide, unified commitment to social and environmental responsibility. And Sri Lankan suppliers are fully aware of the competitive advantage that results from these achievements.
Brandix are not alone in achieving profitable enterprise whilst harnessing shared value and sustainability. Garment Services Lanka have just spent 1.1 million USD on a brand new factory that will open in January 2012. Director Christopher Katukurunda stated last week, “We have clientele in Europe, especially the UK, Germany and France. As of now, there is no impact of EU crisis being felt and we are expecting 100 percent growth over our current revenues after the new plant becomes operational.”
Brandix Director Udena Wickremesooriya stresses that "It is customer positions that drive us, not just the numbers," Mr. Wickremesooriya explains that their exponential growth over the past decade has been largely achieved by focusing on simple fundamentals such as on-time delivery, price, speed, product and the sustainability platform, with commitments to Greener products, organic cotton, Fair Trade certifications and the Better Cotton initiative.
As a former buyer myself I cannot tell you how precisely they have hit the nail on the head. Although we traditionally negotiate on cost, these other variables are priceless when considering the bottom line of the business.
Brandix recently installed an apparel software system to help boost the efficiency of its product development and production. According to Iswaran Senthil, CEO of Brandix Denim, they are now achieving "more than double the production of patterns that fit the first time, saving a large amount of fabric, and better utilising human resources”.
Ethical buying is the one, single, most important element to unifying garment production standards around the world. And so for true success, sustainability has to combine ethics with profits and benefits all-round. With a legacy of ethics, strategic partnerships, transparency, long-term commitment and its focus on innovation, Sri Lanka has proven that it can succeed without guilt, whilst generating exceptional profits for both parties.
Over the last decade, internet usage on the continent has increased by over two thousand percent. Africa has gone from having hardly any undersea fibre optic cables in 2000 to having nine that will connect almost all of Africa by 2012, reducing costs dramatically compared to satellite connectivity. At the same time, the continent has become the world’s second largest mobile market behind Asia – and the fastest growing. At present, more than one in three Africans owns a cellular phone.
and 62% associate Africa with corruption - but only 3% say Africa is 'good for business.' How should we clear up these misconceptions and portray a more diverse and positive depiction of African countries???
