28 November 2014 - Announcement by Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership
Dear stakeholders, colleagues, partners and friends,
As we are entering the last month of 2014, we wanted with this note to share some concrete details about our transition.
As you are all aware, in July 2014, the Stop TB Partnership Board made a decision to move its Secretariat’s hosting and administrative arrangements from WHO to the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
Therefore, on 1 January 2015, the Stop TB Partnership will begin a new chapter of its existence.
By moving the Secretariat’s hosting arrangements to UNOPS, a UN agency specialized in providing management, administrative and support services, we hope to increase our efficiencies and to serve much better the TB Community and partners -- as we will be able to focus our attention and activities on coordinating the global efforts against TB, better engage with civil society and activists, strengthen our high-level advocacy work with governments and increase our reach to non-traditional and non-health stakeholders, including the private sector. UNOPS is particularly well equipped to support the rapid roll out and implementation of rapid grant and procurement procedures required by the Global Drug Facility and TB REACH, two of the Partnership’s key programmes.
I want to underline that the move will not change the close and complementary collaboration and working relationship between WHO and the Stop TB Partnership as we fulfill our respective mandates. WHO will continue its leading role in the fight against tuberculosis, setting global policy and targets, leading work to establish norms and standards, monitoring burden and global response, and providing technical support to Member States.
From 1 January 2015, the Stop TB Partnership will physically move to office space in Geneva adjacent to the Global Fund’s offices. This co-location is an opportunity to foster even closer coordination between the two organizations. The Secretariat already works extensively with the Global Fund and supports non-governmental organizations, community organizations and other groups to take part in and strengthen their grant applications to the Global Fund.
From January, the Secretariat’s new mailing address will be as follows:
Stop TB Partnership
TCS Building, Floor 1
Chemin de Blandonnet 2,
1214 Vernier
Switzerland
In terms of e-mails, staff will continue to get their emails forwarded by WHO for the first month, but it is highly recommended that from 1 January 2015, any new emails should go to the intended recipient’s new @stoptb.org email address. As an example, in my case, my new e-mail address will be LucicaD@stoptb.org (first name, first initial followed by @stoptb.org).
We are tremendously excited by the opportunities this change represents for us all and we look forward to working even more closely with you.
Yours sincerely,
Lucica Ditiu
Executive Secretary
Stop TB Partnership