Lady Roslyn Morauta (Lady Ros), Chair of the Global Fund Board, visited Tokyo on June 17–19 to attend the Asia-Pacific AIDS and Co-Infections Conference (APACC). During her visit, FGFJ coordinated a series of high-level meetings and dialogue sessions with key stakeholders in Japan, including government officials, parliamentarians, and civil society representatives. The visit served as a crucial opportunity to further deepen the strategic partnership and to share the Global Fund’s new strategy—aimed at achieving maximum impact with limited resources—as the organization works toward ending HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria by 2030.
The high-level meetings included a courtesy call to State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Ayano Kunimitsu and to State Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Hon. Hirobumi Niki; a meeting with Hon. Ichiro Aisawa, co-chair of the FGFJ Diet Task Force; and a meeting with FGFJ Diet Task Force members, Hon. Tetsuro Fukuyama and Hon. Mari Takagi. At each meeting, Lady Ros expressed appreciation for Japan’s longstanding leadership in global health and contributions to the Global Fund, and highlighted the importance of continued partnership in advancing global health.
The visit also included dialogues with Japanese NGOs and community-based organizations, providing opportunities to exchange perspectives on current challenges and explore areas for future collaboration. The dialogues included talks with Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) on its HIV outreach project in Ukraine; a roundtable with Japanese international NGOs to discuss their work and explore opportunities to engage with the Global Fund; and a dialogue with Japanese community-based organizations on HIV/AIDS, reaffirming the importance of community engagement in the global response to HIV.