For many of us, December and January mark a time for family and holidays and for reflections on the year past. Earlier this month, the current chair of the Global Fund board, Simon Bland, blogged here on the Big Push about the year that was for the AIDS, TB and malaria funding mechanism and the many changes it saw.
Simon Bland talked about those changes in the context of the tremendous results that have been achieved and the truly transformative role the Fund played from its early days as an emergency response to a major piece of the global health landscape. In short, he said that 2011 was the year that the Fund came to realize it had to make serious changes and 2012 had been the year to make those changes.
This got me thinking: what will the Fund be like come 2013? What will the Fund be like in this next decade?
The Here I Am campaign is a hopeful campaign, a campaign to bring the voices of those whose lives have changed for the better because of investments made by the Global Fund. Earlier this year, we set up a booth at the International AIDS Conference held in Washington DC (USA) and captured many of the Here I Am videos you can see on our website. One video we captured from Mphu Ramatlapeng of Lesotho covers so much of what we think is important about the work the Fund does and why fully-funding it in 2013 is important we've been waiting to share it.
By this time next year, the Global Fund will have begun to use its new funding mechanism. Its' new executive director will have been on the job almost a year. And perhaps most importantly, the Global Fund will have finished its' fourth process to replenish its funds. If 2011 was the year of realizing changes were needed and 2012 was the year those changes were made, 2013 is the critical year of getting funds to put those changes into action.
I have been actively engaged in the workings of the Global Fund for almost a decade. I am a member of the Communities Delegation to the Global Fund Board. This is an organization that I am deeply passionate about because I see the impact and results every day.
I have many wishes for 2013. Continued good health to those living with HIV and affected by TB and malaria whose very lives are pegged to a fully-funded and sustainable Global Fund. Good health, peace and prosperity for people everywhere. A fully-funded Global Fund to begin to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
As Mphu said "The Global Fund is our vehicle of choice because it has been fantastic."
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Lucy Chesire: TB-HIV advocate from Kenya, Board Member of the Global Fund Board Communities Delegation
About the Here I Am campaign: The Here I Am campaign is a global call on world leaders to save millions of lives by supporting a fully funded Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Here I Am brings the voices of people that are directly affected by AIDS, TB and malaria into dialogue about decisions that affect their lives and the lives of millions of others in their countries. Through video testimonies from all over the world, campaign ambassador advocacy, online actions and on-the-ground mobilizations, the Here I Am campaign is building collective power to end three of the world's most deadly diseases. www.hereiamcampaign.org