Over the last couple years, the global health community has focused its efforts on COVID-19 and redirected resources from other public health initiatives to address the pandemic. But last week, public and private donors restated their commitment to fighting three decades-long epidemics with a record $14.25 billion worth of pledges for the next three years.

More than 45 countries, multilateral partners, private sector companies, and civil society and community organizations came together in New York City for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria’s seventh replenishment conference. The fund holds a replenishment conference every three years to gather pledges for the partnership’s work. 

"To date, the Global Fund has saved 50 million lives," Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands said on the Global Citizen Festival stage on Sept. 24. "But COVID-19 set us back, and so this year, we put out our most ambitious call for funding yet. I’m happy to announce today that that call was answered."

The $14.25 billion replenishment, which was announced on Sept. 21, is the result of a months-long campaign to push governments and the private sector to reaffirm their support for the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. Though the total pledge currently falls short of the targeted $18 billion, many governments showed up by increasing their funding by at least 30% from the previous replenishment. The private sector also did its part by making a record commitment of more than $1.23 billion. 

As the host of this year’s replenishment conference, the US kicked off the pledging process back in March. US President Joe Biden set the bar high by signaling that the country would commit $6 billion to the Global Fund over the next three years — a 30% increase over its last replenishment pledge. Several months later, Japan and Germany followed suit by announcing $1.08 billion and €1.3 billion, respectively — marking a 30% increase for each country.

The momentum continued into the replenishment conference, during which several donors, including Spain, Canada, and the European Commission, increased their commitments by 30%. France, which hosted the previous replenishment session in 2019, announced a 24% increase this year. Some countries exceeded expectations: South Korea quadrupled its pledge from $25 million to $100 million, and Kenya increased its pledge from $6 million to $10 million.

The Global Fund also expanded its donor base this year, welcoming eight new and returning donors: Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea, Indonesia, Malawi, Morocco, Paraguay, and Tanzania. In addition, 20 implementing partner countries, 18 of which are from the African continent, pledged their support.

Global Citizens helped secure these commitments, as they took action to call on public and private donors — particularly Canada, Germany, France, Japan, and the European Commission — to solidify their support for the Global Fund.

Global Citizen supporters like Billy Porter also used his platform to call for commitments in the lead up to the replenishment, tweeting at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In Canada, Global Citizen, along with coalition partners including ONE Canada and Results Canada, led a multi-month campaign that included meeting with members of parliament, marching in the 2022 Toronto Pride Parade, and video appeals directed at Trudeau.

TopicsGlobal Citizen FestivalImpactHealthGlobal HealthAIDSHIVTuberculosisMalariaGlobal FundGlobal Citizen Festival 2022

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