Text of Secretary-General's video message to International Conference in Support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Chers amis,

Je tiens tout d'abord à remercier la France d'avoir pris l'initiative de vous réunir tous aujourd'hui au service d'une cause cruciale, et je la remercie également de son appui énergique au Fonds mondial.

Je tiens aussi à remercier les Etats-unis de leur soutien, et Monsieur Tommy Thompson du dévouement avec lequel il préside le Fonds.

Cette réunion est une preuve concrète du dynamisme que le combat contre le VIH et le SIDA, contre la tuberculose et contre le paludisme a acquis en quelques courtes années. Il n'a pas fallu plus de temps pour que le Fonds mondial, de la belle idée qu'il était, devienne réalité, bien plus rapidement que l'on n'aurait jamais cru possible.

By gathering today, you are showing your commitment to mobilizing greater support for the Fund, and ensuring that it lives up to its full potential. By your example, you are demonstrating your understanding of the crucial role the Fund has to play in the fight against these devastating diseases.

The Fund is not there to replace existing national or international efforts. Those efforts are of vital importance and must continue. The Fund exists to fill a specific and substantial gap, by providing effective and efficient financing to scale up our collective struggle.

To mount an effective global response to HIV/AIDS alone, the total spending needs to rise to 10 billion a year by 2005. The Global Fund is there to channel a significant share of that amount –but again, by no means all of it.

Today, we have an opportunity to build on the leadership shown by a number of countries in the movement to support the Fund. We look to more donors to follow their example.

That support can take many forms: direct financial contributions, practical support for operations, mobilization within recipient countries.

However you choose to do it, the biggest challenge before you is to ensure that substantial commitments are made, and new partnerships created, to enable the Fund to play its role to the full.

For the United Nations family, and me personally, turning the tide on AIDS, TB and malaria is a priority second to none. We will remain a full and committed partner in the collective struggle towards our common goal. Thank you very much.