GLOBAL FUND OBSERVER: LAUNCH STATEMENT
Bernard Rivers - Aidspan
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Aidspan is pleased to announce the launch of "GLOBAL FUND OBSERVER" (GFO),
a free email-based newsletter and related discussion forum. GFO provides
an independent platform for news, analysis and commentary about the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The Global Fund was first proposed in 2001 by Kofi Annan. Thus far it has
raised a little over $2 billion, and it is likely to become the world's
largest fundraising operation and the world's largest grant-making
operation.

The GFO NEWSLETTER, written by Aidspan staff and external contributors,
will be emailed to subscribers once or twice a month. See below for
instructions on how to subscribe.

Among the topics to be covered in the first two issues are:
* NEWS: "The October board meeting - key developments" and "Some Global
Fund Headaches - KwaZula Natal, Tanzania, Uganda"
* ANALYSIS: "The Global Fund's financial needs: Who has contributed? How
long will it last?"
* COMMENTARY: "Resource Mobilization - Crunch Time" and "What is a valid
CCM?"

Separately, the GFO DISCUSSION FORUM offers subscribers an opportunity to
share information, express opinions, seek advice, and respond to articles
in the Newsletter.

Global Fund Observer will take over the role of covering the Global Fund
from Break-The-Silence (BTS). BTS, a discussion forum operated by Health
& Development Networks (HDN; www.hdnet.org), was key in first raising
awareness about the Global Fund. Aidspan and HDN arrived jointly at the
decision that BTS will no longer deal substantively with Global Fund
issues, and that Aidspan will launch Global Fund Observer. The two
organizations recognize that the communities interested in the Global Fund
have expanded considerably, and that there is now a need for a service
dedicated entirely to Global Fund-related information.

Expected subscribers to GFO include members of Country Coordination
Mechanisms (CCMs - the public-private committees that have to be set up in
recipient countries to apply for grants from the Fund); organizations that
wish to join or form CCMs; organizations that wish to submit applications
direct to the Global Fund; consultants who wish to assist CCM members;
potential donors to the Global Fund; advocates interested in Global Fund
activities and funding; members of the public; journalists and academics;
and representatives of the Global Fund itself.

GFO will facilitate communication and cooperation among these various
groups. GFO has no formal connection with, and will accept no grants or
fees from, the Global Fund. It strongly supports the principles that the
Fund stands for, but is free to critique how the Fund implements these
principles.

GFO hopes to serve as the primary communication channel, in both
directions, between the three NGO delegations on the Global Fund board and
their respective constituencies ("North NGO", "South NGO", and "People
living with HIV/AIDS, TB, or malaria"). To facilitate this, GFO has an
Editorial Advisory Board initially comprising ICASO, GNP+ and REDLA+ (the
three organizations designated as Communications Focal Points within the
Global Fund's NGO board delegations), plus HDN and the International
HIV/AIDS Alliance.

GFO will initially be provided in English only. It is hoped later to
provide it in additional languages.

Aidspan is a US-based nonprofit organization that promotes increased
support for, and effectiveness of, the Global Fund. It also provides
fee-based grant-writing assistance and strategic-planning advice to
organizations that run AIDS-related projects in developing countries.

Aidspan was founded and is run by Bernard Rivers, a regular contributor to
BTS who serves as editor of the GFO Newsletter. Articles on the Global
Fund published by Aidspan over the past eighteen months are available at
www.aidspan.org.

* To subscribe to the GFO NEWSLETTER, send an email to:

[email protected]

Subject line and text can be left blank. (You will receive one to two
issues per month.)

* To subscribe to the GFO DISCUSSION FORUM, send an email to:

[email protected]

Again, subject line and text can be left blank. (You will receive
consolidated moderated postings up to once per day.)

* For further information, see www.aidspan.org

Names and email addresses of subscribers will never be passed to anyone
outside Aidspan.

Bernard Rivers
Executive Director, Aidspan
[email protected]
www.aidspan.org

SUPPORTIVE STATEMENT FROM HDN:

Health & Development Networks is delighted to support Aidspan's Global
Fund Observer (GFO) Newsletter and Discussion Forum as the primary
independent source of information and discussion about the Global Fund.

As the Global Fund has evolved, the constituencies interested in the Fund
have grown enormously. There is now a clear need for a dedicated platform
where news, views, resources and expertise around the Global Fund can be
shared.

Aidspan, through its founder Bernard Rivers, has been a tireless and
committed advocate for the Global Fund since the Fund first emerged as an
idea in early 2001. HDN has worked closely with Aidspan throughout this
time, and is confident that the Global Fund-related discussions that HDN
helped initiate will be protected and nurtured objectively and efficiently
by Aidspan through Global Fund Observer. We are delighted to support the
launch of GFO, and to serve on its Editorial Advisory Board.

We wish future GFO members - and Aidspan - every success in constructively
and positively influencing the development of the Global Fund.

Tim France
Director, Health & Development Networks
www.hdnet.org
[email protected]

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