Advocacy Update: Top Things to Know This Week

Global Fund raises record level of support at its Seventh Replenishment Conference

The replenishment conference, hosted by President Biden, raised $14.25 billion, the largest amount ever raised by the Global Fund. However, the replenishment fell short of its $18 billion target as the U.K. and Italy delayed their pledges, but are expected to announce in the coming weeks. The U.S is the largest donor to the Global Fund and has pledged $6 billion, a 30% increase over the last replenishment. Funding will be used in the 2023-2025 grant cycle to save 20 million lives and avert more than 450 million new infections of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Congress releases Continuing Resolution text amid negotiations to avert government shutdown

Ahead of the end-of-the-month deadline, Congress released the text of a Continuing Resolution to fund the government until mid-December, giving appropriators time post-midterm elections to negotiate final spending bills for Fiscal Year 2023. The text notably includes $12.4 billion in appropriations to aid Ukraine requested by the Biden administration. However, lawmakers didn’t include $22.4 billion requested for COVID-19 resources or the $4.5 billion requested to respond to monkeypox cases.

2022 Goalkeepers Report states world is off-track to meet SDGs

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released its sixth annual Goalkeepers Report which noted that nearly every indicator of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is off track at the halfway point for achieving them by 2030. However, despite setbacks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing climate and food crises, and protracted conflicts, the report remains optimistic and highlights opportunities to accelerate progress toward the SDGs. 

President Biden announces 2.9 billion in food security aid at UNGA77

During his address to the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77), President Biden announced $2.9 billion in additional funding from the U.S. government to fight global food insecurity caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the effects of climate change. This builds on the $6.9 billion in U.S. government assistance to strengthen global food security already committed this year.

U.S co-hosts COVID-19 Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial Meeting at UNGA77

The meeting convened on the sidelines of UNGA77 reviewed the progress of the COVID-19 Global Action Plan (GAP) initiative, identifying priorities to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR). The full Chairs’ statement from the Governments of the United States of America, Bangladesh, Botswana, and Spain can be found here. 

USAID launched Africa Localization Initiative at UNGA77

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power announced a new regional initiative will invest in local leadership and experts in sub-Saharan Africa. This initiative will be modeled after the successful Centroamérica Local initiative launched in November 2021. More details on the initiative will be announced in the coming months. 

Ambassador Nkengasong releases new strategic direction for PEPFAR

On September 22, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Health Diplomacy Ambassador at Large, Dr. John Nkengasong, announced PEPFAR’s Strategic Direction, which is based on insights from stakeholder listening sessions. As PEPFAR approaches its 20th anniversary, he shared five strategic pillars and three enablers for reimagining the initiative to achieve its goal of ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic by 2030. The full report can be found here. 

CDC releases strategy for global response to COVID-19 (2020-2023)

This strategy provides an overarching framework for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goals of the CDC’s strategy include reducing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, expanding scientific knowledge of the virus and strengthening global public health leadership, and improving long-term health security in low- and middle-income countries.

Global Food Security Reauthorization Act passes HFAC

On September 15, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed H.R. 8446, the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022 with bipartisan support. The legislation seeks to address global hunger and food insecurity through strategic investments in USAID’s Feed the Future Initiative. The bill is scheduled for a vote by the House of Representatives on the week of September 26, 2022

Representatives Schakowsky, Ruiz and Lee introduce resolution honoring Dr. Paul Farmer

On September 20, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36), and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) introduced the Dr. Paul Farmer Memorial Resolution to honor Dr. Farmer’s vision for global health equity. The House resolution proposes increasing global health aid from $11.4 to $125 billion annually, reforming aid to focus on building national health systems, creating a fairer global economy, and redressing the harms of colonialism and ecological breakdown. 

ACT-Accelerator Facilitation Council Working Group releases report on access to COVID-19 tests and treatments 

The new report emphasizes that diagnostics and therapeutics, and associated test to treat strategies, are fundamental components of the pandemic response, both for COVID-19 and future health threats. The report also offers sixteen recommendations, six of which are in the context of the six-month ACT-A plan (October 2022 to March 2023), as well as ten recommendations in the context of long-term COVID-19 control and strengthening PPR. 

WHO releases report on health and migration

The fourth World Health Organization (WHO) Global Evidence Review on Health and Migration report highlights how refugees and migrants often face many barriers in accessing and using antibiotics, often leading to poorer health outcomes and contributing to the rise of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR). As more than 1.27 million deaths a year can be attributed to AMR, the report offers policy recommendations to reverse this trend globally.

WHO releases report on community assets and civil society outreach in critical times

The report highlights the work of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and WHO in providing financial and technical support to civil society organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic and provides best practice examples on the impact of the support provided by this initiative.

Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

The call to action by WHO and almost 200 other health groups urges governments to lay out a legally binding global plan to phase out fossil fuels given their harmful effects on human health. Air pollution has been linked to seven million premature deaths per year and over 90% of people in the world live in places that exceed the WHO limits for air pollution.