2 December 2014: - At the Malaria No More Breakfast of Champions being held this week in Washington, DC. , RBM Global Advocate Rt. Hon Stephen O`Brien MP will receive a Malaria Action Award for his role in influencing high level decisions in malaria control.

Born in Tanzania, Stephen O'Brien has a strong, long-standing and committed interest in Africa, security and development. In May 2013, Stephen O`Brien was appointed as the RBM Global Advocate to help officials in malaria endemic countries to reinforce political commitment in accelerating the fight against malaria in the current MDGs. In addition, he is currently serving as the UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy to the Sahel, having served as an International Development Minister in the Coalition Government, between May 2010 and September 2012.

Throughout his career, Stephen O’Brien has championed development issues, particularly malaria control and its eventual eradication. He founded and chaired the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases for 6 years and was the Chairman of the Malaria Consortium for over 4 years up until his appointment to the UK Government in 2010. He has also resumed his Trustee-Directorship of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and has been a Director of the Innovative Vector Control Consortium.

Recently, Stephen O`Brien visited PnG and Australia where he was instrumental in drawing attention to issues of malaria elimination in Asia Pacific.

28 November 2014: - The RBM 27th Partnership Board Meeting will take place on 2-4 December in Thailand. The main agenda of the three-day meeting will be to develop consensus on the way forward for the RBM Partnership within the context of the new Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP2) and the post MDG development environment.

Deliberations will explore new Partnership architecture to ensure countries continue to be supported in their malaria control and elimination efforts; a new Progress & Impact Report on APMEN will be launched; and Board members will review the outcome of the redesign which has reduced the Secretariat capacity by 50 percent.

25 November 2014: - The 32nd Global Fund Board Meeting was held in Montreux, Switzerland the past week to assess progress of NFM and make crucial decision points regarding governance, market dynamics, ethics, risk management and a new funding stream.

The Board indicated the need for targeting impact and ensuring greater simplicity within the NFM`s processes and procedures. It was concluded that the country concept notes should focus on more and better data and analysis of needs, as well as more precise application of TGF`s methodology.

The Board also agreed on a framework for reducing financial risk, ensuring cost efficiencies and savings. Such measures may allow covering the USD $1.3 billion need for countries to finance the second bednet replacement campaign within the current replenishment period.
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