On Monday, 20 October 2008, the Belgian All Party Parliamentary Group on the MDGs in collaboration with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF) organised an International High Level Conference on: “The Future of Parliamentary Involvement in Global Health and Development”. The Conference, held in the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, Belgium was opened by Mr. Charles Michel, the Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation.

Bringing together more than 80 participants, including Parliamentarians, health experts and representatives of leading global health actors such as the GFATM, UNFPA, UNAIDS, the WHO, RBM, Stop TB Partnership, French and Belgian Government Officials, European Commission representatives, representatives of innovative finance mechanisms such as UNITAID and Debt2Health, as well as civil society organisations, the Conference enabled Parliamentarians to have a better understanding of the new development aid landscape as well as a clear picture of the current aid volume and effectiveness. Participants were able to exchange views and best practices on global health, sexual and reproductive health, and development aid issues leading to a comprehensive and structured dialogue to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and meet ODA Commitments for global health while entering a period of financial crisis. It was highlighted how Parliamentarians can play a key role in making their Governments accountable to their International ODA commitments and in advancing health issues on the political agenda at national, European and international level.

As a key outcome of the Conference, Parliamentarians adopted a Declaration reaffirming that as the world’s largest donor, it is Europe’s responsibility to honor its commitments and highlighting the need for a continued, predictable and sustainable support for Global Health and Development. With this in mind, Parliamentarians called for a strong support to the new financing mechanisms aiming to mobilise additional resources for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and sexual and reproductive health and rights, and specifically pointed out the necessity to enhance and increase the involvement of Parliamentarians and Parliamentary structures in the national, European and international decision-making settings in order to ensure that commitments are respected and turned into practice. To this extend, EPF will be bringing a 10 member Parliamentary Delegation to the Global Fund’s Partnership Forum, one of the governing bodies of the Global Fund, which be held on the 8-10 December in Dakar, Senegal.