The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a
crucial actor in the worldwide response to HIV. In less than ten
years, it not only has provided billions of dollars for AIDS
programs, but it has also created processes and collaborations
that have opened doors to meaningful participation in public
health programs for people living with and vulnerable to HIV.
The Global Fund explicitly espouses human rights-centered
approaches to HIV. Yet a truly rights-based HIV response is a
challenge to any person or organization because it entails
courageous confrontation of sexism, homophobia, moral
judgmentalism, unjust criminalization, and cultural norms. This
can pose an inherent dilemma for the Global Fund, which claims
as a central principle of its work that the programs it funds
should result from “country-driven” processes. The objective of
this paper is to examine the human rights content and impact of
the Global Fund’s work in three areas—grantmaking processes,
grants, and advocacy. The paper examines