Thank you very much.
It's good to see you here again. I think it's been maybe a year or a year and a half since we saw you last. It's good to have you here again.
You're right. Canada is doing great things. There was the $650 million that I announced in Washington a year and a half ago. We announced $500 million for the Gavi project. When you start to talk about convergence, it's all of these initiatives that we are seeing work hand-in-hand that are really going to make a difference globally: the reduction in maternal mortality, the reduction in infant mortality, and the number of children, as I said before, who are seeing five candles on their birthday cakes. They may not have birthday cakes, but it's that picture of seeing that number of children who are successfully growing and thriving which should be an encouragement to all of us.
As you well know, the Prime Minister made the announcement of $3.5 billion last May at the summit for reaching every woman and every child. That money is going to be disbursed from 2015 to 2020. All of the money that we have announced, the $2.85 billion that we announced in 2010, will be distributed by the end of this fiscal year. Canada has been very generous in its contributions. I think we are now starting to see the convergence of all these initiatives coming together: immunization, nutrition, and the new focus we have on vital statistics. Every one of those initiatives is going to help tremendously as we move forward.
I was really glad to hear you, Dr. Benn, talk about a new marketplace because I represent the riding of Newmarket—Aurora, and I always think that it's wise to reiterate that.
I was in Botswana a number of years ago, and I saw the allocation in their health budget to the initiatives for HIV/AIDS. Botswana is one of the countries that have been severely impacted. I understand that the life expectancy was 57 for males and 54 for females. They knew that they needed to address this with some money put there very specifically.
I wonder if you can tell the committee a little bit about how health systems are working with you at the Global Fund to start growing their own substantial health systems to address the issue. How do you work with them on a financial basis to see that happen?