The Netherlands

A letter was sent to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, H.E Ms Sigrid Kaag.

For the Fifth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) in 2016, Netherlands pledged EUR 166,000,000 to the Global Fund for the 2017 – 2019 allocation cycle.

The Netherlands is a leader in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) where SRHR includes HIV/AIDS as one of the four thematic Official Development Assistance (ODA) priorities of the Netherlands. Advancing gender equality and strengthening the position of women and girls remains a cross-cutting theme of Netherlands’ development policy and the Government of Netherlands has taken leadership globally on the matter, including on issues related to SRHR. The Global Fund priorities complement Netherlands’ efforts to promote gender equality where its investments promotes gender equality and addresses human rights barriers through its grants. The Global Fund insists on the meaningful engagement of women throughout the design and implementation of the programmes it funds with a strong focus on SRHR and devotes more than one-third of its funding to Health Systems Strengthening (over USD 1 billion per year). Global Fund grants support comprehensive sexuality education and programmes to address gender-based violence and also provides funding for education and economic empowerment programmes for adolescent girls and young women, who are disproportionately affected by HIV. Increased investments in the Global Fund will ensure that all these efforts are fast-tracked to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), another key priority of Netherlands’ ODA.