New analysis of country pledges and contributions to the Global Fund

A new report from by the Global Fund-focused NGO watchdog Aidspan, available online, includes an analysis of donor pledges to the Global Fund in relation to gross national income. [1]

They calculated the Global Fund donor score for each of the 30 countries that have the largest economies and that are defined by the World Bank as “high income.” (The definition of “high income” is based on standard of living, not size of economy.) In this analysis, the five highest donors were Sweden, Norway, France, the United Kingdom and Canada. See Tables 1 and 2.

The Global Fund donor scores shown in Tables 1 and 2 are based only on direct pledges to the Global Fund. Some of the countries listed also contribute indirectly, via the European Commission (pledges from the European Commission make up 4% of total pledges to the Fund), UNITAID or Debt2Health. Some countries also donate considerable amounts of money for non-Global Fund programmes to fight AIDS, TB and malaria (such as through bilateral aid). Others don’t give much money for the three diseases, but may give to other charitable or development causes.

Three of the countries shown in Table 2 as having a Global Fund donor score of F – Italy, Spain and Ireland – pledged substantially to the Global Fund prior to 2011. Because of their domestic economic difficulties, none of these countries pledged anything for 2011-2013, and each of them failed to fully cover its pledge for at least one year before 2011. However, during 2011-2012, Ireland did make some contributions to cover part of the unpaid portion of its 2010 pledge; and there are signs that Spain may again become a donor to the Global Fund.

Table 1: Explanation of Aidspan’s Global Fund (GF) donor score
GF donor score	Average annual pledge (2011-13) as a % of gross national income (GNI)
A	Greater than 0.010%
B	From 0.007% to 0.010%
C	From 0.003% to 0.006%
D	From 0.001% to 0.002%
E	Below 0.001%
F	Zero

Table 1: Explanation of Aidspan’s Global Fund (GF) donor score

GF donor score

Average annual pledge (2011-13) as a % of gross national income (GNI)

Greater than 0.010%

From 0.007% to 0.010%

From 0.003% to 0.006%

From 0.001% to 0.002%

Below 0.001%

Zero

Table 2: The “Global Fund donor scores” for the 30 high-income countries with the largest economies, based on pledges for 2011-2013
Global Fund donors	Donor	Pledge to the Global Fund
Average annual pledge, $m.	As % of GNI *
A	Sweden	99.1	0.0197%
Norway	76.5	0.0174%
France	477.7	0.0172%
UK	340.0	0.0144%
Canada	179.0	0.0114%
B	USA	1,333.3	0.0088%
Denmark	27.0	0.0080%
Netherlands	63.5	0.0076%
Germany	263.4	0.0073%
Australia	72.7	0.0071%
C	Belgium	18.0	0.0035%
Japan	200.0	0.0035%
D	Finland	5.2	0.0020%
Switzerland	8.3	0.0014%
Saudi Arabia	5.6	0.0011%
E	Kuwait	0.5	0.0004%
South Korea	2.0	0.0002%
F	Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates	0.0 each	0%

Table 2: The “Global Fund donor scores” for the 30 high-income countries with the largest economies, based on pledges for 2011-2013

Global Fund donors

Donor

Pledge to the Global Fund

Average annual pledge, $m.

As % of GNI *

Sweden

99.1

0.0197%

Norway

76.5

0.0174%

France

477.7

0.0172%

340.0

0.0144%

Canada

179.0

0.0114%

USA

1,333.3

0.0088%

Denmark

27.0

0.0080%

Netherlands

63.5

0.0076%

Germany

263.4

0.0073%

Australia

72.7

0.0071%

Belgium

18.0

0.0035%

Japan

200.0

0.0035%

Finland

5.2

0.0020%

Switzerland

8.3

0.0014%

Saudi Arabia

5.6

0.0011%

Kuwait

0.5

0.0004%

South Korea

2.0

0.0002%

Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates

0.0 each

* This column shows each country’s average annual pledge to the Global Fund during 2011-2013 as a percentage of its 2011 gross national income

Five of the countries shown in Table 2 as having a Global Fund donor score of F – Austria, Czech Republic, Israel, Qatar and United Arab Emirates – have never donated to the Fund.

Based solely on the size of the pledges, and looking now at all donors to the Global Fund, not just the 30 largest economies, the largest pledges for 2011-2013 were made, in decreasing order by the US, France, the UK, Germany, Japan, Canada, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the EC, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Netherlands, Denmark, Russia and Belgium.

During the years 2001-2005, every pledge made to the Global Fund was fully paid. Since then, this has not been the case: $645 million in pledges made to the Global Fund for the years 2006-2011 has not yet been paid.

The private sector provided only 0.3% of total pledges for 2011-2013 (about $10 million annually). However, this does not include (Product) RED, an alliance of various private sector companies, which, without making pledges, contributes about $20 million annually.