PLATE-FORME SUISSE «VIH/SIDA ET COOPÉRATION INTERNATIONALE»

1. décembre 2013

I am pleased to be able bring you very good news just before Christmas: Switzerland increases its contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to 60 million Swiss francs for the years 2014-2016. The Steering Committee and the coordinator of aidsfocus.ch are very happy about this success, to which the advocacy work of aidsfocus.ch contributed.

You may remember: A year ago, on 12 December 2012 at the annual meeting of aidsfocus.ch on the Global Fund, the partners of aidsfocus.ch discussed with Michael O'Connor (Global Fund) and Marc de Santis (SDC) the need for a strengthened Global Fund. The partners of aidsfocus.ch decided to write a letter to Martin Dahinden, Director of SDC, to increase Switzerland's contribution to the Global Fund to 50 million Swiss Francs. In May, 2013, on the occasion of the visit of Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund, to Federal Councilor Didier Burkhalter, aidsfocus.ch was invited as representative of civil society organizations at a roundtable. In between, there have been calls and e-mails with the various stakeholders.

To achieve the increase of the Swiss contribution, it was crucial that different actors worked together and within their sphere of influence towards a common goal: Strengthening the Global Fund to save lives.

Jan Van Damme, Donor Relations Officer at the Global Fund in Geneva analyzed in an email to aidsfocus.ch the interplay of the various factors that have contributed to the success:

“The increase to CHF 60 million is indeed an extraordinary achievement. I think what did it in the end is that all parties were aligned:

• SDC had committed to substantially increase and has some very engaged people at different levels who gave their utmost - The hosting of the Mid-term Review of the 3rd Replenishment in Geneva, in November 2012, which clearly raised the level of awareness in the Swiss government - The civil society had been fighting for an increase for years and – thanks to you – did some very useful outreach, which paid off - Some key-parliamentarians were convinced for the cause and did a real effort to pass the message - Another donor government reached out to SDC with a plea for Switzerland to join the momentum

Then there was the strategic timing and coordination for the many and regular meetings, calls and emails, and for the messaging. The general enthusiasm with donors, partners and implementers around the need for funding combined with the returned confidence in the Global Fund complete the picture.”

I would like to thank the partners and the Steering Committee of aidsfocus.ch for their commitment.

With my best wishes for the holiday season

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch Executive Director of the Network Medicus Mundi Switzerland

Berne, 13 décembre 2013 - Le Conseil fédéral approuve une contribution de 60 millions de francs au Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida, la tuberculose et le paludisme (GFATM) pour la période 2014-2016. Cofondatrice en 2002 du fonds, qui a son siège à Genève, la Suisse en est un partenaire important depuis le début. Le paludisme, la tuberculose et le VIH/SIDA demeurent les principales causes de décès dans les pays situés au sud du Sahara. Ces trois maladies constituent un obstacle majeur au développement de ces pays. La lutte contre le paludisme, le VIH/SIDA et la tuberculose est une très haute priorité, tant pour la coopération internationale au développement que pour la Suisse. Les succès majeurs obtenus en la matière sont sans aucun doute également imputables au GFATM, qui est le plus important bailleur de fonds à l’échelle mondiale dans la lutte contre ces trois maladies.

http://www.news.admin.ch

aidsfocus.ch / Berne, le 13 décembre 2013 – La plate-forme suisse aidsfocus.ch salue la décision du Conseil fédéral de doubler la contribution de la Suisse au Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida, la tuberculose et le paludisme. Le montant de la Suisse passera de 10 millions de francs suisses en 2013 à 20 millions annuellement. Elle accentue ainsi sa volonté politique et son engagement à ap-porter sa contribution significative afin que, dans le monde entier, les hommes puissent mener la vie la plus saine possible. La consolidation du Fonds mondial, par la Suisse également, constitue une étape importante sur la voie du dépassement de ces maladies. Les organisations réunies dans la plate-forme aidsfocus.ch vont continuer à s'engager dans la réalisation d'un monde sans sida.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Geneva, 16 December 2013 – Switzerland escalated its pledge to 60 million Swiss francs (US$68 million) over the next three years. Compared with its pledge of 21 million Swiss francs three years ago, the new commitment represents almost a tripling of Switzerland’s contribution. “Switzerland is very committed to the mandate of the Global Fund and to the fight against the three diseases,” said Ambassador Martin Dahinden, Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. “Switzerland considers it a great privilege to host the Global Fund Secretariat in Geneva, where it has marked its place among other key-stakeholders in global health.” On top of that, the Swiss pledge unlocks about US$34 million in additional contributions from the United States, and about US$10 million from the United Kingdom. Each country devised their pledges in a way that partially matches additional contributions by other donors.

http://www.theglobalfund.org