Global Fund welcomes Germany's decision to renew funding

Geneva (ots) - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria welcomes Germany's decision to release the first half of its
2011 contribution of Euro 200 million. The announcement came after a
High-Level Independent Review Panel examining the financial oversight
of the Global Fund's grant management submitted its interim report to
the Global Fund's Board late last night.

The Global Fund will work with the Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development to clarify the conditions that the
Minister has placed on the release of the contribution. The Global
Fund is bound by a basic principle that public donors cannot restrict
their contributions to specific recipients, and the leadership of the
organization will work with the Ministry to find the best way to
align these elements.

Germany had suspended payment of its 2011 contribution to the
Global Fund after media attention following the Global Fund's own
findings that individuals in some recipient organizations had misused
some of its funding in four countries.

However, the Global Fund is in the midst of a wide-ranging reform
process started in mid-2010 which was presented at the Global Fund's
donor conference in October 2010. Over the past year, the Global Fund
has put in place a number of additional safeguards and strengthened
its systems to prevent and detect misuse of its grants.

In February 2011, it also set up a High-Level Independent Review
Panel on Fiduciary Controls and Oversight, co-chaired by His
Excellency Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, and Michael O.
Leavitt, former US Health Secretary.

The High-Level Panel submitted its interim report on 30 June and
will submit its final report to the Global Fund's Board in September
2011.

Germany is the fourth largest donor to the Global Fund, having
pledged more than US$ 2.1 billion since its creation in 2002. Of
this, US$ 857 million is for the period 2011-13.

About the Global Fund

The Global Fund is a unique, public-private partnership and
international financing institution dedicated to attracting and
disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, TB
and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the
private sector and affected communities represents an innovative
approach to international health financing. The Global Fund's model
is based on the concepts of country ownership and performance-based
funding, which means that people in countries implement their own
programs based on their priorities and the Global Fund provides
financing on the condition that verifiable results are achieved.

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the main
financier of programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, with approved
funding of US$ 21.7 billion for more than 600 programs in 150
countries (as of 31 December 2010). The Global Fund works in close
collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to
supplement existing efforts in dealing with the three diseases.

For more information, please contact:

Marcela Rojo - Communications
Office: + 41 58 791 16 79
Mobile: + 41 79 540 2667
E-mail: marcela.rojo@theglobalfund.org