Dirk Niebel Meets Bill Gates – An Agreement for Close Cooperation | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

BERLIN -- German Development Minister, Dirk Niebel, met today with Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Berlin. During this meeting, they signed an agreement for close cooperation between the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, BMZ*, and the Gates Foundation. This agreement encompasses the areas of global health policy, agriculture and rural development, water and sanitation, urban development, as well as microfinance.

Before the meeting, Dirk Niebel said: “During the year of BMZ’s 50th anniversary, this is an important example of how German development policy cooperates with partners from civil society and the private economy to boost the effect of development cooperation significantly. The Gates Foundation is an ideal partner for us. Together we will look at issues like innovative finance instruments and result-orientated work.

The Partnership will commence with a joint increase to the vaccine initiative, the GAVI alliance with the commitment of the BMZ to increase its contribution through innovative bilateral contributions. The ministry will increase its funding by €14m in 2011 for childhood immunization. In turn, the Gates Foundation will match this amount through multilateral contributions to GAVI; the foundation will also match any further increase in funds for 2012 and 2013 should Germany announce these contributions ahead of the June GAVI Pledging Conference.

Bill Gates said: “We are very happy to sign this agreement that will make it easier to cooperate on our common priorities of investing in smart aid, which can save lives, improve living conditions and build a prosperous and stable society. I was in Berlin this week, to talk about the impressive achievements of the German development cooperation, which were in large parts driven by smart investments in organisations like GAVI and the Global Fund To Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.“

In the agreement, both partners stressed the important role the Global Fund plays in the fight against AIDS, TB and Malaria, having already saved 6.5 million lives.

*Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung