Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - May 21, 2009
Doreen Carvajal
"If we get broad-based support, there is no telling what we can do," Mr. Clinton said Wednesday at a news conference in Paris, alongside Philippe Douste-Blazy, a development-financing adviser to the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon.
"If you provide a user-friendly, efficient way of giving, the contributors will use this system. There's no question that large numbers of people will contribute if they know how little it costs and how many lives are saved."
The United Nations is trying to tap new sources of revenue during the global economic crisis, turning to travelers who are willing to check off a $2 donation added to their ticket prices. The aim is to increase government aid for projects to fight malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, according to both men, who are working with a newly formed group -- Leading Innovative Financing for Equity, or LIFE -- made up of eight different groups that are raising money to finance health aid.
One of those organizations is Unitaid, a Geneva organization founded in 2006 that is financed by airline ticket taxes in 7 of its 35 member nations. The group has raised and committed more than $900 million for treatment. Its aim is to buy medications in high volume in order to negotiate low prices.
The campaign to tap small donors will not be operating until January, said Mr. Douste-Blazy, who explained that "the idea is that the citizens of the world are connected by the Internet and credit cards and can show their solidarity." In the meantime, the groups have set broader goals to reach those renting cars, booking hotels or buying train tickets.
Such measures will be coordinated by the group, LIFE, along with other financing arrangements like the sale of child vaccine bonds. The International Finance Facility for Immunization -- backed by Britain, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway and South Africa -- has already raised more than $2 billion since 2006 by selling vaccine bonds on the capital markets.
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