PEPFAR AT 20

Event

February 24, 2023

Program Resources 

Read: A report series on lessons learned from PEPFAR’s success

Read: Building on PEPFAR’s success: Is a win for U.S. foreign policy

Read: Foreign aid successes: MCC and PEPFAR as models for engagement

Listen: Amb. Dr. John Nkengasong – Continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS

Watch: President George W. Bush discusses 20 years of PEPFAR


When President George W. Bush announced PEPFAR in 2003, less than 50,000 people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa had access to antiretroviral therapy. Today, PEPFAR has saved an estimated 25 million lives and operates in more than 50 countries. Although PEPFAR’s mandate is the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV, its impact has gone well beyond this. PEPFAR has strengthened health systems, emboldened democracies, supported economic growth, and advanced progress on human rights.

PEPFAR’s success derives in large part from its focus on accountability, transparency, impact, and equity. Underpinning these values is PEPFAR’s focus on collecting and using data in real time. This drives constant programmatic improvement and efficiencies, which have allowed for the expansion of life-saving services despite a flat budget. PEPFAR has been a win for both the countries it serves and for U.S. foreign policy.

But this work is not finished, especially given gaps in care among adolescent girls, young women, children, and other vulnerable populations. Congress and the American people should continue to support PEPFAR until the HIV/AIDS is no longer a threat. Quitting now would put our investments and the lives of the people PEPFAR serves at risk.

At this event, we will look back on PEPFAR’s success and learn how its model can inform U.S. engagement in global health and development more broadly. We will hear from those who were there at the creation of the program, those who have benefitted from it, as well as those who continue to work daily toward the global goal to end AIDS.


Program Details

Welcome Remarks

  • Mrs. Laura W. Bush

Testimonial

  • EGPAF Ambassadors Tatu Msangi and Faith Mang’ehe

Remarks

  • Ken Hersh, President and CEO, George W. Bush Presidential Center

Keynote Conversation

Listen to the conversation on Overheard at the Bush Center

  • President George W. Bush
  • Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania
  • Moderator: Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy

Remarks

  • Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, United States Deputy Secretary of State

Virtual Remarks

  • Secretary Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State

Remarks

  • Igor Khrestin, The Bradford M. Freeman Managing Director of Global Policy, George W. Bush Institute

Remarks and Speaker Introduction

  • Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States

Testimonial

  • Dmytro Sherembei, Head of Coordination Council of CO “100 PERCENT LIFE”
  • Valeriia Rachynska, Member of Coordination Council and Human Rights, Gender and Community Development Director of CO “100 PERCENT LIFE”

Speaker Introduction

  • Larry Di Rita, Head of Global Public Policy and President, Greater Washington D.C., Bank of America

Virtual Remarks

  • Bono, Lead Singer, U2 and Co-Founder, ONE and (RED)

Conversation One

Listen on Overheard at the Bush Center

  • Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Moderator: David Kramer, Executive Director, George W. Bush Institute

Remarks

  • Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, 52nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Speaker Introduction

  • Former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Member of Congress from 1989-2019

Virtual Remarks 

  • Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong, U.S. Global Aids Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy

Panel: Ending Aids – How do we get there?

  • Bridget Akasreku, Physician Assistant and Former Research Manager, Ph.D. Candidate
  • Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS
  • Anna Caravaggio, Vice President, Global Public Health Franchises, Johnson & Johnson
  • Senator Lizzie Nkosi, Minister for Health, Eswatini Government
  • Peter Sands, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (pre-recorded remarks)
  • Moderator: Mamadi Yilla, Acting Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator

Testimonial

  • Evan Mawarire, Democracy activist from Zimbabwe and Director of Education at Renew Democracy Initiative in Washington DC

Panel: Progress Continues Beyond HIV

  • Dr. Favorite Iradukunda, Assistant Professor, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, UMASS Amherst
  • Allan Maleche, Executive Director, Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN)
  • Dr. Izukanji Sikazwe, CEO, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia
  • Dr. Wafaa El Sadr, Founder and Director, ICAP
  • Moderator: Holly Kuzmich, Senior Advisor, George W. Bush Institute; Managing Director, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation