Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

In November 2014 the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a five-year grant (2014-2019) of nearly US$5 million to Sightsavers (and The Task Force for Global Health, acting as a sub-grantee), to run a support centre for Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Uniting to Combat NTDs is a collective of invested, interested and dedicated partners that work together to meet the 2020 goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) for 10 neglected tropical diseases, as set out in the London Declaration. The work of the collective complements WHO’s collaboration with endemic countries and builds on the work of several disease-specific partnerships.

The primary function of the  support centre is to assist the key stakeholder groups with coordination, communication, reporting, advocacy and logistics for meetings. This includes supporting the production of an annual scorecard and report on progress; facilitating the business of the stakeholders’ working group; supporting the four working groups of Uniting to Combat NTDs; maintaining the visibility and effectiveness of the collective’s work; and promoting its advocacy and resource efforts.