The gap in Global Fund pledges

A couple of days ago the United States announced an increased pledge to the Global Fund on AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. Several other governments have also increased their pledges, while Italy and Sweden have so far pledged no new contributions. In all $12 billion dollars have been pledged to the Global Fund, but the fund and many activists were hoping for 20 billion.

From this transcript from the Australian Broadcasting Company, reporter Sarah Hawke gives an Australian perspective on the pledge gap for the Global Fund.

SARAH HAWKE: The Director of the HIV-AIDS Project at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, Bill Botell says the fund has also had longer term impacts.

BILL BOTELL: Levels of HIV infection have started to stabilise and in many countries have started to fall quite dramatically as people have got access to treatments. We've seen very encouraging progress on malaria and tuberculosis as well.

SARAH HAWKE: Bill Botell has been in New York this week for the UN discussions on the next three years of funding.

Forty countries committed $11.7 billion. The UN was hoping for $13 billion. Poverty and disease advocacy groups wanted $20 billion. Mr Botell says it appeared the Global Financial Crisis dented many commitments.

BILL BOTELL: From some of the donors yes there's been a real problem in their capacity to pay. Italy and Sweden for example have not contributed at all. I'm very glad to say though that some of the other donors, including Australia, have really stepped up to the mark and tried to fill that gap. But it was one of a very small number of countries that actually did step up to the mark.

SARAH HAWKE: What do you think it does actually mean on the ground? Are there going to be certain programs that will be looked at, or various strategies?

BILL BOTELL: That shortfall, of a couple of billion dollars means that funds to take more people on to HIV treatments, for malaria bed nets and for tuberculosis treatments won't be able to be paid for and that will translate into hundreds of thousands if not millions of people dying untimely deaths.

Sweden: Democracy, investments and poverty reduction key for Africa

from Earth Times

Stockholm - Sweden's centre-right government Wednesday presented a revised Africa policy that was aimed at focusing on strengthening democracy, investments and trade relations. These factors were "key to development" and Swedish development aid was aimed at helping to "create preconditions for democratic development and sustainable economic growth," the government said.

The four-party coalition earlier said it would halve the number of countries - from 70 to 33 - that receive bilateral aid, focusing a lot of its bilateral aid to Africa.

International Development Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson has said the move is part of efforts to combat poverty, and promote "better efficiency."

The policy was outlined in a 65-page document sent to parliament.

Supporting measures to make it easier to trade was "a prerequisite for growth in Africa and sustainable poverty reduction," Carlsson, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Trade Minister Ewa Bjorling said in an op-ed article in Stockholm daily Svenska Dagbladet.

The three cabinet members urged Swedish companies to invest in Africa, and also highlighted efforts by the African Union to defuse the political crisis in Kenya.

The government said it would continue to focus on poverty reduction efforts and support countries hit by conflict or recovering from conflicts.

Sweden aims to offer aid to fewer countries

from the Gulf Times

STOCKHOLM: The Swedish centre-right government that took office a year ago said yesterday that it aims to halve the number of countries that receive bilateral aid to increase efforts to combat poverty, phasing out aid to Vietnam and China.

International Development Co-operation Minister Gunilla Carlsson cited “better efficiency” as one of the arguments for reducing the number of bilateral aid recipients from the current 70 to 33.

Future bilateral recipients were grouped according to three categories.


One category included 12 countries – mainly in Africa – that Sweden has had long-term development co-operation with and included Tanzania, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, she said when presenting the proposal.

Another group of 12 countries or regions were those impacted by conflict – recent or ongoing – and included Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, East Timor, Iraq, the West Bank and Gaza, while nine countries mainly in Eastern Europe would receive support to shore up democratic reforms, Carlsson said.

About a third of Sweden’s annual aid budget, worth some 30bn kronor ($4.3bn), is earmarked for bilateral aid.

Along with its Nordic neighbours Norway and Denmark, Sweden is one of five countries that has committed more than 0.7% of its gross national income to aid, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Development Assistance Committee.

On Africa, the minister said “the needs to combat poverty were the greatest on that continent”, citing challenges like conflicts, HIV/Aids and the risk of famine.
Countries that would be dropped from bilateral aid programmes such as Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, South Africa or Namibia would receive Swedish funding via the UN, the European Union or other multilateral agencies, Carlsson said, adding that the transition period would likely take up to five years.

Anders Forsse, former head of the government aid agency SIDA, welcomed the initiative, saying “development aid is not just a matter of sending money to poor countries with incomplete administrations and quite extensive corruption”.
Forsse said he even favoured reducing the number of bilateral aid recipients to some 20 countries to ensure a proper overview.

Reactions from non-governmental aid agencies were cooler.
Birgitta Silen of the Olof Palme International Centre that has close ties with the country’s opposition Social Democrats said the reductions could weaken support for generous development aid among the Swedish public.