Thursday, February 2, 2006

Beijing International Conference on avian flu : US $1.9 billion pledged by international community

The international community has pledged a total amount of $1.9 billion dollars to fight avian influenza and prepare for a possible human influenza pandemic at the International Ministerial Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza, which took place in Beijing, China on 17-18 January.
The European Commission co-sponsored the conference with the government of the People’s Republic of China and the World Bank. On behalf of the European Commission, Commissioner Kyprianou pledged €80 million ($100 m) in aid grants from the Commission’s External Relations budget and the European Development Fund, and committed €20 million in research funds for avian influenza from EU’s 6th Research Framework Programme.

At the conclusion of the Beijing International Pledging Conference, Commissioner Kyprianou said: "I am glad to announce that the total amount pledged by the International Community amounts to 1.9 billion US Dollars. This is a significant achievement we all can be proud of. We have surpassed expectations by considerably exceeding the estimated overall financing gap of around $1.2 billion, 1 billion of which is in grants . For its part, the European Commission has played a central role both as a co-host of this conference, and with a total pledge of €100 million. Taken together with the €114 million pledged by the EU Member States, the EU has in total pledged around €214 million."

Of the €80 million pledged by the European Commission to third countries, €30 million is destined for Asia, €5 million for Central Asia, €5 million for the EU’s Eastern European neighbouring countries, €10 million for North Africa and the Middle East, and €30 million is earmarked for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries. With €20 million of research funds also earmarked from the 6th Research Framework Programme, this brings the total European Commission pledge to €100 million.

Separately, the European Commission is preparing to urgently advance €4 million in pre-accession aid to Turkey, foreseen for 2007, in order to tackle avian influenza.

Source European Commission

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