When President Trump’s cuts to international aid budgets in 2025 impacted work to eliminate malaria, HIV, and TB, Rosemary Mburu knew it was time for a bold new global health strategy.
Mburu, a civil society organizer who is the executive director of NGO WACI Health in Kenya, is also a coordinator for the Global Fund Advocates Network Africa hub, which generates local community support for the Global Fund. Mburu rallied African donor countries to support the fund, and helped others speak on the global stage to drum up further support. “We saw African leadership stepping up to champion this moment,” Mburu says. Several African countries substantially increased their contributions, marking a shift from a model where low-income countries are beneficiaries of aid to one where they are co-investors, a model that Mburu has championed publicly.