Monthly Themes

Working Multilaterally

• The critical measure of U.S. commitment is our total spending on HIV/AIDS (including both bilateral and multilateral programs such as the Global Fund). For FY 2007, the President has requested over $4 billion for HIV/AIDS programs -- likely more than all other international donors combined, and up from $3.2 billion in FY 2006.
• The top priority for the U.S. is to maintain the President's request for bilateral funding for the focus countries in FY 2007 -- in past years Congress has redirected funding from bilateral programs to other activities. Achieving the requested level is essential not only for the success of bilateral programs, but for the success of Global Fund grants, which depend on U.S. technical assistance. In terms of direct financial contributions to the Global Fund, the U.S. has been the biggest contributor since its founding in 2001. Of the President's over $4 billion request for FY 2007, $300 million is for the Global Fund.
• Because of the terrible and immediate effects of HIV/AIDS – 14,000 new infections and 8,000 deaths every day – each country must assess how it can respond most emergently and effectively.
• Other governments have made similar determinations to invest heavily in bilateral efforts rather than multilateral options.
• In 2004 the share of USG contributions that went to the Global Fund was more than twice that of the UK
• In fact, even countries with a much more modest presence on the ground than the US -- such as Germany and Japan -- are in the same ballpark as the US in terms of allocation of funding between bilateral and Global Fund contributions.

U.S. bilateral support for Global Fund implementation

• As important as our financial contribution is, the U.S. supports the Fund in other vital ways. We are able to leverage our substantial investment in bilateral programs – approximately $11 billion over 5 years -- as well as our extensive bilateral experience and infrastructure, as additional resources to support the Fund's work.  We provide much-needed technical assistance in countries that have received Global Fund grants but face challenges in implementing programs.
• Also, the U.S. recently increased our bilateral malaria programs by $1 billion over 5 years. This will help nations in Africa reach vulnerable populations with effective prevention and treatment interventions, and will provide further opportunities for us to leverage our resources to support the Global Fund's malaria efforts.
• We are pleased that some other nations have joined us in leveraging their own bilateral programs.  For those nations which do not have extensive bilateral programs to leverage, the U.S. urges them to give as generously as they can to the Global Fund. Their contributions will be maximized by joining them together with those of others in the world community.
• In the spirit of the Three Ones agreement, the Global Fund, other multilateral institutions and our bilateral programs - together -- will turn the tide against this disease.

 

History of the U.S. commitment to the Global Fund

• For historical context, when the Global Fund was founded in 2001, President Bush announced a founding pledge of $200 million. In 2002 and 2003, the United States contributed an additional $400 million.
• Beyond this initial $600 million in seed money, President Bush pledged, beginning in 2004, to contribute $1 billion over five years. By the end of 2007, the U.S. will already have exceeded President Bush's initial pledge, bringing the U.S. aggregate contribution to the Fund to over $2 billion.

 

33% percent maximum U.S. contribution

• Congress passed legislation stating that the MAXIMUM America could contribute to the Global Fund would be 33% of the Fund's aggregate contributions to date at any point in time.