The weekend of September 16th and 17th I was lucky enough to be in Montreal at the 5th Conference for the Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The goal of the meeting was to have countries, organisations and individuals from around the world pledge a total of almost US$13billion to contribute to the fight against these diseases over the next three years.
I was representing RESULTS Australia and saw Australia’s pledge of $220million dollars, a 10 per cent increase for us, made alongside those of other nations from across the globe and adding to the ultimate pool of US $12.9billion.
Given the since the last Global Fund replenishment in 2013, this is a good result for the Fund. There was no indication in the lead up that Australia would pledge anything to the Fund let alone increase their pledge, yet they committed 10 per cent more, and overall the Global Fund raised about 10 per cent more.
It is a sign that the government continues to support the Global Fund’s work. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop notes that the Global Fund is a “valued partner in Australia’s efforts to improve regional health security” in the announcing the pledge.
So how did this happen? What motivated the government to increase their pledge and support the vital work of the Global Fund and prioritise it within their program for Australian Aid?
People engaged with the political system with the clear goal of promoting the Fund.
RESULTS is a movement of committed, everyday people that works to influence political actions that improve access to education, health, and economic opportunity for those in our region who need them most.
Our most recent campaign has been focussed on Australia’s commitment to the replenishment of the Global Fund, and RESULTS colleagues across the world have also been working toward similar goals in a dozen other countries.
Our grassroots volunteers have spent the last nine months working together to influence their members of Parliament to support an increase to Australia’s contribution to the Global Fund. While other people were wondering about the weekend’s football results these people were anxiously waiting to see if Australia would step up to invest our fair share in the Global Fund.
They haven’t spent the last few months sitting on the sidelines hoping for a good outcome, though, they’ve been out in the field doing the work of advocating with and on behalf of those people in the world who don’t yet live free from these diseases. Since its inception in 2002 Global Fund-supported health programs have saved 20 million lives and prevented 146 million people from being infected in the first place. By stepping up this time around we have the opportunity to end these diseases as epidemics.
It’s no secret that Australians can be pretty cynical about our governments. But at a time when most people despair of the political process and can’t see how or why they would get involved in it, these advocates have taken a different approach.
As soon as the results of the election were known RESULTS’ grassroots advocates began contacting their newly-minted and re-elected local members to talk about the need for Australia to increase its commitment to the Global Fund. They wrote letters and they held face to face meetings to put forward their case. With practical training and solid information in hand they fronted up to Liberal, Labor, National, Green and Independent politicians across the country about the need for Australia to take leadership on aid in the Asia-Pacific and they almost universally received good reception. The truth is politicians do care about what their constituents care about, but they don’t always know what we care about or what to do about it until we tell them.
Similarly knowing what your local member is passionate about is a big advantage because framing the argument is an important part of the ask. At the moment, regional health security is an important concern for governments around the world. And for some politicians demonstrating that the ability to help eradicate malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS is not just good for our neighbours’ health but also for Australia was a better argument than the more altruistic ones.
Our grassroots advocates asked politicians to sign a letter to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop supporting an increase to Australia’s pledge to the Global Fund. Many politicians signed the letter there and then. Some even attached personal notes to the Minister after meeting our advocates.
Several were politicians who had previously spoken out against Australian aid but when engaged on the facts by one of their own constituents, they signed on.
I went door to door at Parliament House collecting these letters from parliamentarians’ offices when Parliament began sitting earlier this month, and I saw first-hand the impact they’d made. I had more than one politician tell me they were signing for the grassroots advocate who’d met with them, and several mentioned them by name.
In all 135 members from both houses of Parliament and across all parties signed the letter to Minister Bishop - that’s 60 per cent of all parliamentarians.
In Montreal as pledges were made, I saw all that hard work come to fruition for advocates from across Australia and around the globe. In the age of political apathy, individuals had made an impact.
Leila Stennett is the Campaigns Director for and Coordinator of the
