GLOBAL FUND BOARD APPROVES SECOND TERM FOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PETER SANDS

Author:

Aidspan team

Article Type:

Article Number: 9

ABSTRACT During the last Board meeting, members approved the extension of Peter Sand’s term as Executive Director until 2026. The Board members have acknowledged his successes during the 6th Replenishment, his rapid response to COVID-19, and highlighted the challenges he will face in the future.

During the last Board meeting, Board members approved the extension of Peter Sands’ term as Executive Director of the Global Fund for an additional four years, with effect from 1 March 2022.

The Global Fund’s press release highlights the successes but also the different challenges Peter Sands has faced since he took up his office in 2018: on the one hand, the 6th Replenishment that culminated in 2019 with $14 billion, the largest amount of money ever raised by the Global Fund; and on the other, the COVID-19 pandemic that challenged health systems and threatened the progress made in the fight against the three diseases. At the Global Fund’s level, this required a flexible and quick response as well as coordination with the other international donors, which enabled the creation of the ACT-Accelerator.

Donald Kaberuka’s declaration echoes this particular time: “Peter leads the Global Fund at a critical time in global health. We express our support as we look to the many priorities ahead – delivering on the core mission of the Global Fund in the fight against the three diseases and serving the communities with whom we work in our Global Fund partnership, as well as playing a central role in the global COVID-19 response and developing the next Global Fund Strategy.”

Peter Sands’ new term of office will take the Global Fund up to 2026 and one key obligation remains, that of meeting the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030. The Executive Director will have to lead the organisation through uncertainties and a complex environment: the financial situation related to the recession created by COVID-19, which may undermine the ambitions of the 7th Replenishment; the negative effects of COVID-19 on the fight against pandemics and the health system; and the definition of the new Strategy that describes the role of the Global Fund in the universal architecture of international health and security and highlights its added value in the world.