West Africa

Ford Foundation Launches Global Initiative on HIV/AIDS

NEW YORK, 11 August 2006 - Building on 20 years of local partnerships to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS on five continents, the Ford Foundation today announced a $45 million initiative to help ensure that massive new global investments in medical and technological breakthroughs are matched by an equally significant focus on the social, political and cultural factors of the disease.

The new five-year initiative was announced as the sixteenth International AIDS Conference opened in Toronto.

As more funding and technology are brought to bear against HIV/AIDS at a global level, Ford sees a critical opportunity to more fully address the real-life social and behavioral issues that affect the success of HIV programs and services.

Dr. Jacob A. Gayle, formerly an HIV/AIDS advisor at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and US Agency for International Development (USAID), will head the foundation's new effort, which builds upon the country-based activities of Foundation staff in offices around the world. Dr. Gayle has been a leader in the fight against HIV for over twenty years, heading up HIV/AIDS programs at both the United Nations and the World Bank.

The initiative enables Ford to build on its history of local funding for HIV/AIDS programs by directing additional resources to global efforts that:

• Strengthen leadership by building the skills of women and other groups most affected by the disease
• Ensure equal access to HIV prevention, support and treatment
• Encourage accountability among governments, community leaders, and funders
• Support partnership by finding new ways for businesses, governments and activists to work together

"Twenty five years into the fight, there is renewed energy and great potential in the conviction to address AIDS at a global level," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. "But with this promise comes a new and perhaps greater responsibility moving forward. We need to make sure that the global search for solutions reflects the local realities on the ground."

Foundation officials hope the new initiative can extend the impact of its grantees, who for two decades have been addressing the social and cultural factors that can stand in the way of prevention and treatment. Under the initiative, Ford will bring the knowledge and experience of its grantees to global HIV/AIDS forums, ensuring that local lessons help inform critical funding and policy decisions.

Visit Ford's Global Initiative On HIV/AIDS

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.