Naina Dhingra is the Director of International Policy at Advocates for Youth and serves on the Developed Country NGO Board Delegation of the Global Fund.

Bill and Melinda Gates showed their generosity again today by announcing a new $500 million contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. The five year contribution makes $200 million available immediately for the upcoming sixth funding round for which countries are currently applying.

The Global Fund was created by the international community as an innovative public/private partnership. In just four and a half years, the Global Fund has committed over $5.5 billion to over 132 countries. Instead of being driven by donor interests and policies, countries determine for themselves their needs and submit proposals to the Global Fund for financing. The proposals are evaluated by an independent body of world renowned technical experts and then are sent for approval to the Global Fund's governing board. The Board includes representatives of donor and recipient governments, civil society, the private sector, and affected communities. A Secretariat in Geneva is responsible for signing the grants and working with countries to ensure results-based progress.

The Global Fund is crucial to women's and young people's sexual and reproductive health as it is a donor agency that is not bound by ideological donor restrictions. The Global Fund is committed to funding science-based approaches and respecting the rights of countries in determining programs that match their needs. A broad range of interventions are supported including: HIV prevention programs that are integrated with sexual and reproductive health, youth peer education and programs for sex workers. Family planning clinics are playing an increasingly larger role with the Global Fund at the country level.

Unfortunately, countries in need are reliant upon G8 countries for meeting their commitments to financing the Global Fund to ensure grant renewals and new funding rounds. The G8 might want to think about adding a new member as the Gates seem to be fulfilling their commitments better than themselves.

At the recent G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, world leaders agreed to lofty language reaffirming their commitment by "mobilizing support for the Global Fund" and calling on all concerned to develop a "four-year strategy, aimed at building a solid foundation for the activities of the Fund in the years ahead." What the G8 needs to do is stand behind their commitment with money, not talk.

The risk is that G8 countries think they're off the hook with the new Gates pledge. The truth is that the new commitment from Gates is just a drop in the bucket to what the Global Fund needs. Even with the new pledge, the Global Fund has an estimated funding gap of $500 million in 2006 and at least $1.4 billion in 2007. To meet the Millennium Development Goal for AIDS, TB and malaria, the Global Fund estimates that it will need annual contributions of approximately $11 billion by 2010.

The new Gates Foundation pledge proves that the Global Fund is meeting the standards of the world's most successful businessman. The G8 countries must follow the lead of Bill and Melinda Gates and dramatically increase their support for the Global Fund in order to fulfill the promises of the Millennium Development Goals.