6 February 2009 - Geneva - Dr Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership and Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding cooperation between the two organizations.
"By signing this memorandum of understanding, the Stop TB Partnership and the Global Fund reaffirmed their mutual engagement to strengthen the global response to fighting tuberculosis," Dr Kazatchkine said. "Resources provided through the Global Fund must be complemented by technical support to countries, so that all recipients can maximize their efforts to fight AIDS, TB and malaria. The world depends on the in-country assistance provided by the Stop TB Partnership as well as its tireless role in global advocacy and coordination."
The MOU articulates specific objectives for cooperation in core activity areas, including support to Global Fund grantees by the Global Drug Facility and the Green Light Committee; coordination of technical assistance through TBTEAM; and monitoring and evaluation.
"Today brings a new era of even greater collaboration between the Partnership and the Global Fund. We are confident this will translate into greater opportunities for our partners all over the world whose goal is a world free of tuberculosis," Dr Espinal said.