Global Fund Aims To Garner Increased Contributions From Private Donors, Officials Say

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria hopes to acquire more contributions from private donors, Global Fund officials said on Monday at the start of a two-day donor meeting in Oslo, Norway, Reuters AlertNet reports. The Global Fund, which to date has raised $10 billion, aims to raise an additional $15 billion from 2008 to 2010, according to Reuters AlertNet. Although about 96% of the Global Fund's money to date has been pledged by governments, including the Group of Eight industrialized nations, officials say that private sources -- such as corporations, foundations and individuals -- should make increased contributions to the organization. "We have a major effort underway to increase private financial contributions to the Global Fund and also private contributions of other kinds," Global Fund Executive Director Richard Feachem said. He added that the organization is examining other methods of private, nonfinancial contributions -- including the donation of goods and services -- such as the Product RED campaign. According to Feachem, Product RED to date has raised more than $20 million for the Global Fund and is growing rapidly. Global Fund Chair Carol Jacobs said that the organization does not have a funding target for private donors but added, "Between 10% and 20% -- I do not think would be unreasonable." The largest contribution from a private donor to date has been from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pledged $650 million, Feachem said. About 35 donors are expected to attend the meeting in Oslo, but pledges are not scheduled to be made until a conference in Berlin in September, according to Reuters AlertNet (Acher, Reuters AlertNet, 3/5). In related news, the Global Fund last week announced that Japan has pledged a new contribution of $186 million to the organization. The new pledge brings Japan's contributions to the Global Fund to more than $662 million since 2002 and makes the country the organization's third-largest donor (Global Fund release, 3/2).

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