Joint Statement of Romanian Civil Society Organizations in advance to the Thirty Sixth Meeting of the Global Fund Board

At the 5 th Global Fund Replenishment Conference in September, US$12.9 billion was raised for the 2017 – 2019 Allocation Period -- the largest replenishment amount ever in the Global Fund’s history. At the end of October, the Global Fund published its 2017 Eligibility List identifying which country components are eligible for funding during the during the 2017-2019 funding cycle, noting that eligibility does not guarantee an allocation. According to this list, Romania’s HIV/AIDS program is only eligible for funding for HIV/AIDS under the NGO rule, the criteria for which is detailed in the Global Fund Eligibility Policy.

In advance to the upcoming 36th Meeting of the Global Fund Board on the 16th and 17th of November, we – representatives of Romanian civil society organizations, including people living with HIV and TB and key populations - would like to express our deep concern about the potential disconnect between a successful replenishment and the small or non-existent allocations that will be made available for countries like Romania and upper middle income countries with HIV epidemics that are still not controlled. We believe that there is a high risk that the allocation for the HIV component for Romania for the next three years could be zero – the same as it was the previous allocation period. In this circumstance, even if we, as civil society, work hard to show that we meet the criteria of the NGO rule, there will be no funding available for us to apply for.

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