29 September 2006

Today Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and President Bill Clinton signed a new agreement to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The Taoiseach announced that Ireland would provide €70 million under a renewed partnership with the Clinton Foundation that will focus on addressing HIV/AIDS in two of the worst affected countries in the world - Mozambique and Lesotho.

Under this new agreement funding for Mozambique will reach €60 million over the next five years. Funding for Lesotho will reach €10 million over the same period.

The focus of the partnership will be to support the national responses of both countries to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly in the areas of testing and counselling, the provision of anti-retroviral treatments and critical support for national health systems.

This new agreement will make Ireland the largest country donor to the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative.

Speaking at the signing of the agreement the Taoiseach said:
“Since the end of his US Presidency Bill Clinton has worked to transform AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable disease. He has brokered deals to make HIV drugs affordable and readily available.  He has used his influence with world leaders to make the plight of their HIV positive population a problem they could not ignore. Ireland is proud to support the President and the work of his foundation.”

“The first three years of our relationship with the Clinton Foundation has yielded real results for the people of Mozambique, that is the most important thing, development cooperation must be about results. I look forward to seeing similar progress in Lesotho over the coming years.” 

The Taoiseach and President Clinton were joined at the announcement in Farmleigh by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern TD, and the Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights, Conor Lenihan TD.

Ireland has made the fight against HIV/AIDS a core priority of the Irish Aid programme. Ireland now spends in excess of €100 million, (10% of the total overseas aid budget per year) helping developing countries halt the spread and deal with the impact of this disease.

See report below on Irish Aid's partnership with the Clinton Foundation