World Bank Hosts Roll Back Malaria Partnership Event

The Roll Back Malaria Partnership event hosted by the World Bank included over 30 African Ambassadors, who agreed to support greater transparency and public accountability for the funds being used to combat malaria. Video of the event provided.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) November 3, 2006 -- World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/) President Paul Wolfowitz joined South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka dancing onstage at the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (http://www.rbm.who.int/) event last week. They were joined by South African Ambassador Barbara Joyce Masekela, Mozambique Ambassador Armando Alexandre Panguene, and Jack Valenti, President of Friends of the Global Fight.

The Roll Back Malaria Partnership event hosted by the World Bank included over 30 African Ambassadors, who agreed to support greater transparency and public accountability for the funds being used to combat malaria.

Video of The Roll Back Malaria Partnership event can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGKrOW3HaGg

Challenged by an emotional appeal from Chaka Chaka, the ambassadors agreed their countries would benefit from more clarity on how they are using funds - and donors should come clean on exactly how much they are contributing.

Wolfowitz proclaimed that malaria was at the top of the Bank's development agenda. "The Bank obviously cannot combat malaria alone and coordination is key. Demand for resources is outstripping supply," Wolfowitz said. "While the Bank, the US and the Global Fund are providing financing approaching US$1billion a year, more is clearly needed including increased contributions from African countries themselves."

Wolfowitz called on the ambassadors to demonstrate successes so that funding could continue to flow. We donors", said Wolfowitz, "must live up to our end of the bargain. As countries develop their plans and invest their own resources and achieve results …money should not hold them back from saving more lives."

The ambassadors committed themselves to be soldiers in the fight against malaria to improve infrastructure, ensure accountability, and stop losing 3,000 African children a day to a preventable and treatable disease.

Learn more about Roll Back Malaria Partnership (http://www.rbm.who.int/) and World Bank's malaria efforts (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMALARIA/Resources/377501-1114188195065/WB-Malaria-Strategy&BoosterProgram-Lite.pdf)

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