On 21 April 2021, GFAN Africa facilitated a regional day of action to thank Germany for their additional contribution of EUR 140 million to the Global Fund. These resources will support the Global Fund’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries and mitigate the impact on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programs, including through deploying diagnostic tests, protecting front- line health workers and strengthening health systems.

This contribution comes at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, adversely affecting the most vulnerable communities, threatening progress against HIV, TB and malaria, and putting a strain on already overstretched health systems, including at community level. In June 2020, Germany contributed EUR 150 million and we are grateful for this earlier contribution.

This thank you letter was sent by GFAN Africa’s in-country partners to German Embassies in 13 African countries and to German missions to the African Union and the East African Community. Our partners- Impact Santé Afrique – for outreach in Francophone Africa also translated the letter into French. The 13 countries that joined in this ‘Thank You’ outreach are South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Cameroon, Madagascar, Benin, Lesotho and Senegal.

At GFAN Africa, we applaud Germany for their commitment to global health, as we thank Germany based colleagues whose strategic advocacy contributed to this significant outcome.

On 21 April 2021, GFAN Africa and partners, including communities living with and affected by HIV, TB and malaria and civil society organizations organized a day of action to thank Netherlands for contributing to the ACT Accelerator and to the Global Fund. The letters of appreciation sent by civil society organizations in 14 countries in Africa to Netherlands embassies and consulates expressed sincere gratitude to the Netherlands for their contribution of €52 million to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. These funds are critical to support the accelerated development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

€12 million will be channeled through the Global Fund to strengthen the COVID-19 response while protecting gains made against HIV, TB, and malaria over the last two decades. The remaining €40 million will be invested in the purchase of vaccines through COVAX – the vaccines pillar of the ACT-Accelerator. This pledge follows a previous contribution of €85 million to the global response to COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, the Netherlands contributed €137 million. Read the full letter here.

Impact Santé Afrique, our partner in Francophone Africa translated the letter to French and civil society organizations sent the letters to Embassies of Netherlands in Francophone Africa. The 14 countries that joined in this ‘Thank You’ outreach are South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Madagascar, Benin, Zambia, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Senegal.

The letter was shared widely on social media. You can view the twitter messages here and retweet