The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. The fund says it has saved more than 7 and a half million lives by supporting prevention and treatment programs. However, in November, it announced it had cancelled its next funding round and that no new grants would be approved until 2014. An NGO is warning of the consequences if donors don’t step forward.
“全球抗击艾滋病、肺结核、痢疾基金会”成立到现在，已经有十年了。该组织表示，自从成立以来，通过支持各项预防和治疗项目，已经成功拯救了七百五十多万人的生命。不过，去年11月份，该组织宣布说，下一轮捐助将被取消，新的项目基金要到2014年才有望被批准。国际间一个民间组织警告说，假如捐助不再继续的话，后果将十分严重。
The global fund began collecting donations from governments and private foundations in January 2002. Since then, it has approved over $22 billion dollars for hundreds of programs in more than 150 countries.
“全球抗击艾滋病、肺结核、痢疾基金会”从2002年1月开始，从一些政府和民间基金会那里得到捐款。从那以来，该组织为150多个国家里的数以百计的项目，提供了多达220亿美元的资助。
About 50 countries have contributed. The United States has been the biggest donor, providing 33-percent of the funds pledged each year. In 2010, it pledged more than one billion dollars.
世界范围内，为这个基金捐款的国家有大约50个，美国一直是最大的捐助国，这个基金会每年得到承诺的捐款当中，有三分之一来自美国。光是2010年一年，美国承诺要捐出的款项就高达10亿美元。
However, when the fund’s board met in Accra, Ghana, in November, officials decided to cancel the next funding round, round 11. Along with the global economic crisis came a sharp drop in donations. Officials now say most of the more than $8 billion in donations expected to arrive by the end of 2013 will be needed to renew existing grants. That leaves no money for round 11.
不过，当该组织2011年11月在非洲国家加纳召开理事会的时候，有关官员决定，取消下一轮、也就是第11轮的资助。随着全球经济危机的扩散，捐助数额大幅下降。有关官员说，2013年底之前计划到位的80亿美元，大部分都将用于已有项目的延续，这样一来，就没有资金用于新的项目了。
Don’t stop
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has released a new report on the global fund called Don’t Stop Now. Alvaro Bermejo is executive director of the NGO.
“国际艾滋病防治联合会”最近针对这一情况，公布了一份新的报告，题为“不能停滞不前”。贝尔梅赫是这一联合会的负责人。
“We are at a point where science and the tools that we have allow us to think of a world with no AIDS and to plan it within a generation. But at that particular time, donors are faltering on their commitment. The global fund might go without enough funding and this vision will not materialize. So we’re calling on the donors not to stop now when we’re at such a crucial point in the battle against HIV,” he said.
他说：“如今，科研方面的发展和突破已经让我们能够设想一个没有艾滋病的世界了，已经可以在一代人之内，做出相关计划了。但是就在这个关头，那些早期的捐款来源却不再像以前那么坚定了。”他还说，全球艾滋病基金会有可能会陷于资金匮乏的状况，而之前所设想的根除艾滋病的前景则无法实现。正因为如此，必须呼吁捐助方不要在这个时候停滞不前。现在处于抗击艾滋病的关键时刻。
Bermejo praised the fund’s efforts over the last 10 years.
与此同时，贝尔梅赫对“全球抗击艾滋病、肺结核、痢疾基金会”过去十年来取得的成绩予以赞扬。
“The global fund has been key to the response to HIV, as well as for TB and malaria. The great progress that’s been achieved in these three diseases just wouldn’t have been possible without it,” he said.
他说：“这一基金会在艾滋病、肺结核和痢疾的防治方面，起到了非常关键的作用。没有这一基金的捐助的话，上述领域所取得的进步是不可想象的。”
The economic crisis has forced many AIDS-related organizations to rethink funding priorities and to become much more efficient.
不过，现实情况是，目前的经济危机迫使很多与艾滋病有关的组织不得不重新审视他们在资助项目上的重点，而且必须要考虑如何少花钱、多办事。
Bermejo said, “I think it’s true that we have to be as efficient as one can be and there are certainly opportunities to be more efficient still. And I think everybody is trying their best. But not funding the global fund now is a major inefficiency because you don’t only lose the momentum you have, you actually slide backwards and many of the gains that we’ve made will be wasted.”
贝尔梅赫说：“在我看来，我们是要尽量提高效率，而且确实也还有提高效率的余地。我觉得，大家都在尽力而为。但是，要在这个时候停止对全球基金会的资助，那其实是一个很大的不考虑效率的举动，因为那样一来，你不光是没了势头，而且还会倒退，很多先前取得的成绩都要被浪费掉了。”
Filling the gap
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance estimates the shortfall to be about $2 billion.
“国际艾滋病防治联合会”估计“全球艾滋病、肺结核、痢疾基金会”将缺少大约20亿美元。
“The gap that we have now is mainly produced because donors that pledged to give money to the global fund when it had its replenishment conference in New York in 2010 – those pledges that were made have not been fully met. So donors haven’t lived up to the promises they made,” said Bermejo.
贝尔梅赫说：“这一短缺主要是因为2010年的时候，一些捐助方承诺要提供资助，但是到现在，一些捐助方并没有按照之前的承诺办事。”
The alliance report examines the potential effects of the funding shortfall in 5 countries.
贝尔梅赫负责的这个民间组织最近发布报告，对资金匮乏对五个国家潜在的影响，做出了评估。
“In Zambia, for example, an estimated 130,000 people that need lifesaving access to antiretroviral therapy today will not be able to access it. In South Sudan, the newest country in the world, which has a very good HIV/AIDS prevention strategy that has been costed, 80 percent remains unfunded,” he said.
他说：“就拿赞比亚来说吧，估计有13万需要抗病毒治疗的人，都没有办法接受治疗了。在南苏丹这一世界上最新成立的国家里，虽然他们有非常好的艾滋病防治方案，但是80%的方案到现在为止，都还没有资助。”
Similar conditions are reported in Zimbabwe, Bolivia and Bangladesh.
与此同时，津巴布韦、玻利维亚和孟加拉国也有类似的情况。
The alliance makes three recommendations. First, it calls on donors to honor existing pledges to the global fund. Next, it says national governments must increase their own investment in HIV programs. And finally, it recommends bilateral donors fill critical service gaps not covered by existing programs. Bilateral donors are U.N. member states that provide aid directly to other countries.
“国际防治艾滋病联合会”提出了三个具体的建议。首先，该组织呼吁捐助方履行之前做出的捐款承诺；第二，各国政府必须要加大本国对艾滋病防治项目的投资；第三，一对一的捐助国帮助将已有项目没有涵盖的部分，承担起来。所谓“一对一”的捐助国指的是联合国下属的那些为其他国家直接提供援助的国家。
The head of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance said he’s still hopeful a new round of funding will be held this year, possibly even before the 19th International AIDS Conference is held in Washington, DC in July. The conference is the world’s largest AIDS related gathering.
贝尔梅赫说，他期待着今年某些时候，新一轮捐助还会展开，或许能够在定于7月份举行的第19届“国际艾滋病防治大会”之前展开。 这一大会是全球范围内涉及到艾滋病防治问题的最大规模的会议。 |