The Women’s Sector of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) Civil Society Forum (CSF) secured an R87 million pledge from Nando’s towards the country’s contribution by the private sector to the Global Fund.
The pledge was announced by the Co-Founder of Nando’s, Robert Brozin, during the two-day (25-26 August) South Africa High-Level Meeting led by the SANAC-CSF Women’s Sector and the Global Fund Ambassadors Network (GFAN) currently underway in Sandton. The meeting is an advocacy platform with an aim to mobilise government and business to make their contributions at the upcoming Global Fund 7th Replenishment Conference scheduled to take place in New York next month.
Making the pledge Brozin said, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when? We all have a role to play and by this contribution we hope to mobilise other private sector partners to join in the effort”.
The Director-General of the Department of Health also affirmed government’s contribution to the Global Fund and said the exact amount will be announced by closer to or at the Replenishment conference. South Africa is both a contributor and beneficiary of the Global Fund. The country recently received a grant of R8,8 billion in April for the period of three years.
Speaking on behalf of the SANAC Women’s Sector and for People Living with HIV, Sindisiwe Shangase said it is critical for women to be involved in all stages and aspects of the Global Fund process. “South Africa has 7,8 million people living with HIV and around 5 million of those people are women. Even for younger people, the picture is the same, adolescent girls and young women are the hardest hit compared to boys and young men,” said Shangase.
Accordingly, the Women’s Sector emphasized the need to invest more towards prevention interventions, especially women-controlled prevention commodities such as the Dapivirine Ring. They also called for improved investment towards women-led organisations, particularly direct financial resources to enable them to drive effective HIV intervention programmes for women and girls.
The SANAC CEO, Dr. Thembisile Xulu, who is also the Chairperson of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism (GF CCM) spoke of the importance of multisectoral structures, such as SANAC, for resource mobilisation towards HIV and TB response. “The CCM itself is a multisectoral structure bringing together five constituencies – Government, Provincial Councils on AIDS, Civil Society, Development Partners and the Private Sector – this contributes to the robust nature of the structure by ensuring that all sectors, constituencies and stakeholder voices are represented during the process of compiling the funding proposal for the Global Fund. The Global Fund’s unique partnership approach and its insistence on community engagement and prioritising the needs of key populations makes it responsive, adaptable, highly effective, and sets it apart. The fund provides a conducive environment that makes it easier for structures such as SANAC to coordinate the process of mobilising and tracking resources,” said Dr. Xulu.
The Global Fund launched the 7th Replenishment drive to raise at least US$18 billion. This is the minimum required to get the world back on track to ending HIV, TB and malaria, building resilient and sustainable systems for health and strengthening pandemic preparedness – making the world more equitable and safer from future threats.
The US$18 billion would save 20 million lives, cut the death rate from HIV, TB and malaria by 64% and build a healthier, more equitable world between 2024-2026.
For media queries, please contact Nelson Dlamini, SANAC Communications: nelson@sanac.org.za / 078 731 0313
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