As you might know, December 1st is World AIDS Day. To commemorate this annual event, the World Bank will be hosting a forum in Washington, DC on “Linking HIV/AIDS, Food Security and Maternal and Child Health.”

Speakers and panelists will include US Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby, Executive Director of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria Michel Kazatchkine, and many others.

Today is the last day to RSVP, so if you’d like to attend please do so here. It promises to be a really great panel.

Today, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria announced the largest single malaria initiative ever signed by the Global Fund, which will provide the resources for 30 million bed-nets in Nigeria. Each year, there are approximately 57 million cases of malaria in Nigeria, causing an estimated 225,000 deaths annually. Check out the full press release here.

As part of its efforts to eliminate malaria, Nigeria aims to place two bed nets in every household in the country by distributing 62 million bed nets by December 2010. Global Fund grants will provide half of this total. Other contributors include: the World Bank, DFiD, USAID, UNITAID, UNICEF and the Nigerian government.

“I am extremely pleased that our partnership with Nigeria continues to grow: it shows Nigeria’s strong commitment to fight malaria, and strengthens our relationship since Nigeria is also a Global Fund donor,” said Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Nigeria is showing why reaching global targets for malaria is no longer fanciful but something that can actually be achieved,” he said.

The malaria grants signed today amount to US$ 285 million over two years. The Global Fund used a flexible approach by signing, in July 2009, an interim agreement to allow for the timely distribution of 3.4 millions bed nets, which have just arrived in country in time for the mass distribution campaign planned for December this year. Two other grants were also signed, one for tuberculosis for US$40 million and one for Health Systems Strengthening for US$55 million.

It’s hard to keep track of our calendars here at ONE these days, as the next two weeks are jam-packed with important development events. Over the coming days, folks at ONE will be attending the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh (September 24-25), the UN General Assembly (the 64th session opened yesterday), a UN Summit on Climate Change (September 22), the Clinton Global Initiative (September 22-25) and a special seminar organized by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York.

It’s an important two weeks for the development community, as critical issues—innovative financing for global health, climate change funding, women’s empowerment, global economic recovery—will all be put on the table. Make sure to stay tuned to ONE’s blog, as we’ll provide updates on our travels throughout the coming weeks.

-Kara Arsenault

Check out this blog post from our friends at RESULTS:

Joanne Carter, our executive director here at RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund (REF), was recently selected for a two year term as the Board Member for the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board.

While we couldn’t be more proud of Joanne here at RESULTS/REF, her appointment to the Global Fund Board presents a tremendous opportunity to all of us involved in this work. Sitting on the Board allows Joanne the opportunity to leverage existing North and South partnerships, while also building new partnerships, for the mobilization of resources to address the Global Fund’s funding gap of US $4-9 billion and providing support for high-quality proposals to the Global Fund.

Coincidentally, the Global Fund faces this multi-billion dollar funding gap in no small part because of its success — countries are now able to do more to tackle these disease of poverty, so they are asking for more. Filling the Global Fund’s multi-billion dollar resource gap will require a bold, coordinated resource mobilization strategy. While a seemingly daunting task, the more we’re able to collaborate in our advocacy efforts, the greater the chance that Global Fund receives the full funding that it needs.

Joanne brings to the Board over 17 years of experience directing advocacy campaigns that have mobilized billions of dollars for health and development programs, and I know that she looks forward to her continued partnership with many of you as she takes her seat on the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

-Blair Hinderliter, Communications Director, RESULTS

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced today that it has helped put 2.3 million people on life-saving treatment for HIV/AIDS (a 31 percent increase over results reported last year), treated 5.4 million people for tuberculosis (a 38 percent increase over last year), and distributed 88 million insecticide-treated bed nets (a 49 percent increase from this time last year) to protect against malaria since it was created eight years ago.

These inspiring results constitute 30-50 percent increases in treatment and prevention measures in just one year. As Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund, commented, “In less than eight years, the Global Fund has gone from a concept to a driver of change.”

The Global Fund’s latest results attest to its effectiveness in the prevention and treatment of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. It is imperative that the $3 billion funding shortfall currently facing the partnership is filled by donors.

To learn more about the Global Fund’s impact, read their press release here.

-Rena Pacheco-Theard

As we approach the G8 meeting next week, one of things we’d like to see them commit to is fully funding the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. We’ve known for a while that the Global Fund is facing its first ever financing gap. This is tragic since the Global Fund is sustaining millions on lifesaving AIDS medications and providing tens of millions of bed nets to protect mothers and children from malaria. See the article below from Reuters that explains the funding gap and the potential crisis if it is not filled.

As the G8 convenes this week, we hope that they will, amongst 8 of the largest economies in the world, find the $3 billion needed to keep the Fund fully financed.

Excerpts from Reuters article below, full piece here

GENEVA, July 3 (Reuters) – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is facing a budget hole of about $3 billion as the recession dries up foreign aid, the Geneva-based funding body said on Friday.

Spokeswoman Marcela Rojo said that $170 million is still needed to pay for the programmes the Global Fund committed to supporting last year, and it will need $2.5 billion to $3 billion to maintain and finance programmes planned for 2010.

“The Global Fund will need a substantially higher amount than the one pledged at the last replenishment in Berlin in 2007 ($10 billion),” she told Reuters, saying fundraising drives in 2010 “will be absolutely critical”.

-Josh Lozman

ONE Member Michael Castaldo of Dover, New Hampshire recently wrote in this excellent letter to the editor of the Foster’s Daily Democrat. It was so well done and well deserved, I hope Michael doesn’t mind if I re-post it here in full:

Don’t trim fat on the backs of the poor

To the editor: Right now, the world faces historic challenges. The economic downturn in our country has affected my own family with furloughs and fewer work hours, resulting in smaller wages. But I know that I am not the only Granite Stater, or American that is feeling the tough times. Sadly, so too, does much of the world feel the economic squeeze. But for the world’s poorest people who live in extreme poverty the margins are somewhat finer, and sometimes a matter of life and death.

I am proud to say that under the leadership of President Bush, a small portion of our meager International Assistance budget has been supporting The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and TB. This fund provides lifesaving medicines to people around the world and it is both accountable and transparent. It is a tremendously effective program and has won high praise for its nonpartisan, fair and compassionate approach — not divvying aid based on our personal interests, but instead valuing every life as important as the next. All the time, the program demands good governance and implements sustainable and empowering long-term solutions.

If I break a promise I made, I lose something intangible. But if our nation breaks our promise to the Global Fund, lives will be lost. It is impossible to calculate how many, but what is certain is that over two million people are alive today who would not be, because of the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund. This is a proven program that is demonstrating results by saving millions of lives and improving our global reputation around the world.

Yet for all the good it does and all the accolades it receives, there are some in the Congress that are not putting their full weight behind fully funding the Global Fund and behind keeping our promise. I call on both Senator Shaheen and Senator Gregg, the ranking member on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, to firmly stand behind the Global Fund. I ask that they stand up, and find the funds that will help save lives around the world. Make no mistake, the current fiscal crisis makes these international decisions difficult, but turning away now is antithetical to our own interests and beliefs — it is against who we are and what we believe. We need to trim the fat of government, but don’t do it with the lives of the world’s poorest.

Michael Castaldo

Chairman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX) exemplified bipartisan leadership in navigating the $48.8 billion State-Foreign Operations bill though the House Appropriations Committee yesterday afternoon. After a few amendments, the bill passed by a near unanimous voice vote demonstrating solid support for live-saving, effective programs.

Over the past few months ONE members across the country contacted Members of Congress on the importance of fighting poverty, and it is clear that ONE has been heard. But no resting on our laurels, there is much, much more to do. The full House will take up the bill after the July 4th holiday, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will begin its work around the same time.

On our key programs, some funding levels are very good, and on others, we need to do more. For global health programs, the House Appropriations Committee provides $7.7 billion, which includes fully funding PEPFAR at $5.259 billion. The global health amount also includes $750 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and there is an additional $300 million in the Labor-Health and Human Services bill for a total of $1.05 billion, but the need is $2 billion, so we have some work to do in boosting the funding for this critical, proven program. Good news is that the bill fully funds the President’s Malaria Initiative at $585 million and the Millennium Challenge Account at $1.4 billion, both huge increases from last year’s levels. There is also positive funding for basic education, child and maternal health, and other development programs.

However, in addition to the Global Fund, there is another area of significant concern, and that is the funding of the President’s Food Security initiative. The President’s request was approximately $1.4 billion, but the bill provides about $1 billion, and we believe most of this cut will be felt by African and Latin American countries. This is a key initiative that will help the world’s poorest countries increase their agricultural productivity, reduce poverty, and provide economic prosperity.

Yesterday’s action marks an important step in the funding process, and also provides us with the opportunity to make a difference going forward.

-Arjun Mody

On Day 5 of our listening/learning trip to Africa, we visited the Tema General Hospital (a (RED)/Global Fund site), located 22 miles outside of Accra in the largest port, industrial city in Ghana. Built in 1954, the hospital is currently undergoing renovations in an effort to better serve the increasing number of patients. An eye care center was recently completed and the Minister of Health just announced plans to construct a new, modern maternity block.

These are some photos from a PMTCT (prevent mother-to-child transmission) program funded by the Global Fund. The PMTCT program at Tema General Hospital provides voluntary counseling, testing, treatment and services to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

-Morgana Wingard

We noted last week that donors met in Spain from March 31 to April 1 to review the progress and funding needs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Here are some highlights from the communiqué.

Results show the Global Fund is having a significant impact: Michel Kazatchkine, the Global Fund’s Executive Director said that the Global Fund “is affecting the course of these three epidemics.” With commitments reaching $15 billion since inception in 2002, the Global Fund has provided support for more than 600 programs in 140 countries. The Minister of Health from Nigeria, the Honorable Babatunde Osotimehin, presented findings on Nigeria’s malaria prevention and control efforts, including contributions from the Global Fund of 4 million long-lasting insecticide treated nets and 18 million doses of ACTs. Burkina Faso’s Minister of Health, the Honorable Seydou Bouda, described many gains in malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS supported by the Global Fund, including 1.2 million children under five receiving ACTs, among others. (Stay tuned for more on Global Fund results coming later this week!)

Donors agreed that with the growth of Global Fund programs, long-term sustainability becomes even more important. Increased domestic financing for health from Global Fund recipients was one area emphasized as a way to improve sustainability. Nigeria and Burkina Faso both pledged full commitment to this. On the Global Fund side, participants asked that cost effectiveness and efficiency opportunities be pursued so that results can be maximized with available funding.

Demand for funding has increased so much that the Global Fund now estimates there is a $4 billion gap between resources currently available and those needed to meet the $13.5 billion demand from countries for 2008-2010. With what is currently available, Round 8 could be fully funded, but there is only $0.9 billion for Round 9 and subsequent rounds. The Global Fund Board will begin approving new grants in November of this year, so there is an urgent need for donors to address the funding gap. Spain has already shown its commitment, and was congratulated for increasing its contribution to $213 million. Other donors confirmed that that they expect to meet the commitments made in Berlin 2007. ONE is hoping they will in fact follow through on their commitments so the Global Fund can continue to support countries in their efforts to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria.

-Lisa Fleisher