Speaker sends message that the Global Fund is key to meeting new SDGs

“I am living evidence that the Global Fund saves lives and that ending epidemics is a reality.” (c) Rob Tannenbaum/Global Fund

With the launch of its 2015 Results Report, the Global Fund 5th replenishment campaign has now officially begun. The GFAN Speakers Bureau has also started to organize advocacy tours with GFAN partners to help convince decision-makers in various countries of the the need to support the important role the Global Fund has in ending the AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics.

Our speaker, Maurine Murenga, recently took part in a whirlwind tour to New York, Berlin and London.

In New York during the SDG Summit, Maurine shared the stage at the UN with the leaders of Japan, Liberia and Thailand as well as leaders of UN agencies and Global Fund partners. At the session, entitled The Path Towards Universal Health Coverage: The promotion of equitable global health and human security in the post-2015 development era, Maurine shared her vision of how our world could look in 15 years:

“Looking at 2030, I believe we can achieve a fully funded Global Fund and other efforts to respond to AIDS, TB and malaria and reach targets to end these diseases as public health threats. If partners give generously to the Global Fund today, in 2030 we will be celebrating the results of our actions, we will be celebrating governments that prioritize the health of their citizens, we’ll  be celebrating a sharp reduction of maternal and child mortality, we’ll be celebrating an HIV-free generation of children born to women and girls living with HIV, we’ll be celebrating a society that will be able to access rights-based services through strengthening health systems, we’ll be celebrating a world free of stigma and gender inequalities including gender-based violence. We will be celebrating life.”

At the beginning of October, Maurine spoke at the UK’s Conservative Party Conference as a guest of Malaria No More UK. In a blog post about her visit for the NGO, Maurine writes:

“My role at the event was to leverage my lived experience, share ‘what works’ and how aid from the UK has not only benefitted me but also hundreds of thousands from my community. I came to put a face to the reports and statistics that you may have seen from The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Recently we heard the amazing news that the Global Fund has already helped to save 17 million lives – I went to Manchester to urge the UK government to continue their support for this incredibly effective organisation, attending as evidence that, with commitment to funding health, many people from my community and beyond can live more meaningful lives.”

In Berlin, as a guest of DSW (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung), Maurine spoke with GIZ representatives on Kenya’s experiences in HIV programming and the importance of focusing on women and girls and health systems strengthening. Afterwards, she met with several members of the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development to present the positive progress on the involvement of civil society and community organisation by the Global Fund.

We hope these visits provided decision-makers with a personal story that will offer them perspective when their respective countries start discussions on their 2017-2019 Global Fund pledges.