The year 2009 marks the start of a new era for the European HIV/AIDS Funder Group (EFG). The Ford Foundation has made EFG a two-year operating grant, joining a coalition of funders composed of key global partners such as WHO and UNAIDS as well as a strong pool of European foundations engaged in the fight against the pandemic: the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund (chair), Fondation Mérieux and King Baudouin Foundation. The German Foundation for World Population (DSW) is a strategic partner for the implementation of the group’s activities.

These increased financial resources will allow the EFG to focus on enhancing governance, membership and outreach to the philanthropic community in Europe and to build closer relationships with philanthropy in the US and globally. It is expected that the EFG will be able to develop further synergies with the new priorities and approach to HIV/AIDS globally of the new US administration of Barack Obama.
Moreover, the EFG has just set up an office, hosted at the European Foundation Centre, and hired a Network Coordinator, Ms Makfire Alija.

The next conference of the EFG, ‘Getting MAD about HIV/AIDS: The impact of Mexico, Accra and Doha’, will be held in Brussels in March. EFG will also publish its annual resource tracking of European HIV/AIDS philanthropic funding on World AIDS Day in December. This will be the second time the report is harmonized with data collection by the US-based Funders Concerned about AIDS (FCAA) in order to present the most accurate picture of global AIDS-related philanthropy. FCAA, EFG and UNAIDS have embarked on an effort to provide information and support to funders internationally through the creation of the Working Group on Global Philanthropic Resource Tracking in 2009.

For more information
For more about EFG, contact Karen Hoehn at Karen.Hoehn@dsw-brussels.org
For more about NEF, contact Director Peggy Sailler at peggy.sailler@nefic.org or visit http://www.nefic.org