Norway Becomes Latest Donor To Scale Up Pledges To The Global Fund

Norway pledged to scale up their investments to NOK 2.020 billion (over US $220 million) to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria over the next three years.

Norway joins other European donors such as Spain, Luxembourg, Ireland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the European Commission, Germany, and Italy, who have stepped up their pledges ahead of the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment pledging conference next week, which will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Lyon.

“We must end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in our lifetimes. To this end, Norway will increase its contribution to the Global Fund to two billion twenty million Norwegian kroner by 2023,” Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, said in a press release.

(left-right) ED of The Global Fund, Peter Sands; Norway’s PM, Erna Solberg

The commitment was announced at the Global Citizen festival in New York this past weekend.

The move was praised by Peter Sands, executive director of The Global Fund, who said, “Through global solidarity and effective partnerships like Norway’s, we will save millions of lives.” Norway is the 11th largest public donor to the Global Fund and gives the most on a per capita basis.

Norway, Ghana and Germany, initiated a project to bring together 12 agencies, including The Global Fund, to accelerate work towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal for “Good Health and Well-being.” This initiative was launched just last week at the 74th United Nations General Assembly.

The Global Fund has set a target for raising at least US$14 billion for the next three years, which will be used to fund its mission to “end the epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.” As the Fund’s Sixth Replenishment pledging conference draws closer, stakeholders cautiously wait for the United States, which contributes about a third of the Fund’s budget, to announce whether they will be increasing their contributions like other donors.

So far, the Global Fund claims its partnership has saved over 32 million lives, and expanded access to key preventative services and treatments for HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The Fund estimates that a successful Sixth Replenishment will go towards saving 16 million lives, slashing the mortality rate from HIV, TB, and malaria in half, and building stronger health systems by 2023. In addition, every US dollar invested in the Global Fund will have a return in broader economic gains of US$19.

 

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