Resources

The Declaration of Commitment recognizes that resources devoted to fighting the epidemic, both at the national and international levels, were – and continue to be – insufficient(1).    To match the devastation of AIDS, national and regional capacities must be strengthened, requiring increased and sustained human, financial and technical resources through stronger national, regional and international action and cooperation(2).  Nations with limited resources – particularly those under heavy debt burden(3)   – will need international help to reach this target(4). 

At the UN Special Session, African Heads of State committed themselves to allocating at least 15% of their annual budgets to improving health sectors to help address HIV/AIDS.

Understanding the importance of adequate resources to combat HIV/AIDS, governments committed themselves to:

• Ensure that the resources provided for the global response to HIV/AIDS are substantial, sustained, and achieve results(5).
• By 2005, reach an overall annual target of between US$7 - $10 billion to be spent on HIV/AIDS for low- and middle-income countries and countries with, or at risk of, high rates of infection, and ensure that needed resources are made available from donor countries and national budgets(6). 
• Call on the international community to provide assistance for HIV/AIDS to developing countries on a grant basis(7),  increase international development assistance(8). 
• Increase national budget allocations for HIV/AIDS(9). 
• Urge all developed countries to target 0.7% of their GNP for overall development assistance and to earmark 0.15% to 0.20% of GNP for development assistance for least developed countries, as agreed(10). 
• Integrate HIV/AIDS into development assistance and poverty eradication programmes, and encourage effective and transparent use of resources(11). 
• Implement the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative and cancel all bilateral official debts of HIPC countries in return for their making commitments to finance and implement poverty eradication programmes(12). 
• Encourage more investment in HIV/AIDS research(13). 
• Support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and mobilize contributions to the Fund from public and private sources(14). 
• Direct more funding towards national, regional and subregional commissions and organizations to enable them to assist governments(15). 
• Provide the UNAIDS Cosponsors and Secretariat with sufficient funds to work with countries in support of the goals of this Declaration(16).

Footnote

(1) Paragraph 28, Declaration of Commitment

(2) Paragraph 29.

(3) Paragraph 30.

(4) Paragraph 9.

(5) Paragraph 79.

(6) Paragraph 80.

(7) Paragraph 81.

(8) Paragraph 84.

(9) Paragraph 82.

(10) Paragraph 83.

(11) Paragraph 85.

(12) Paragraph 87.

(13) Paragraph 89.

(14) Paragraph 90.

(15) Paragraph 92.

(16) Paragraph 93.