SHORT ITEMS

Author:

Bernard Rivers

Article Type:

Article Number: 4

ABSTRACT Japan has announced an increase in its contribution to the Global Fund for 2004. Nine major international companies have announced that they will use their facilities to expand workplace HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs into communities where they operate. Aidspan's survey of providers of technical assistance to Global Fund applicants and grant recipients has been responded to by nearly 160 organizations.

• Japan has announced an increase in its contribution to the Global Fund for 2004, from an originally planned US$40 million to “up to” US$100 million. This brings the total Japanese contribution to the Global Fund for the period 2002-2004 to US$ 260 million.Current US pledges for 2002-4 total $823 m., and European pledges total $1,691 m. The US House and Senate are currently discussing by how much to increase the US’s current $200 m. pledge for 2004.
• Nine major international companies with operations in developing countries – AngloAmerican, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chevron Texaco, DaimlerChrysler, Eskom, Heineken, Lafarge, Pfizer and Tata Steel – have announced that they will use their facilities, employees and other infrastructure to expand workplace HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs into communities where they operate.The Global Fund is interested in receiving some “co-investment” proposals from CCMs. In such proposals, companies provide infrastructure that was originally established to serve their employees, and the Fund and others provide financing that enables the corporate infrastructure to be extended to serve non-employee members of the community.
• As previously reported, the Global Fund’s Call for Proposals for Round 4 will be issued on 10 January 2004. At that time, the updated guidelines and application forms will be available for downloading from www.theglobalfund.org. Completed applications will need to be submitted by 2 April 2004. The Technical Review Panel will meet in May, and approvals will be made by the Board on 28-30 June.
• Aidspan’s survey of actual and potential providers of technical assistance (TA) to Global Fund applicants and grant recipients has been responded to by 8 multilateral and governmental agencies, 49 NGOs and academic organizations based in 14 countries, 18 for-profit companies based in 7 countries, and 40 technically-qualified individuals based in 20 countries. One quarter of the respondents offer TA at no charge, and one half state that they have already provided Global Fund-related TA and can provide references from the TA recipients in question.Survey responses will be analyzed and contact details will be provided in Aidspan’s “Guide to Obtaining Global-Fund-Related Technical Assistance,” scheduled for release in mid-January. Instructions on how to obtain the Guide will be published in GFO. Although the official deadline for responding to the survey has passed, responses made online at www.aidspan.org/survey during the next few days will still be considered.