I am pleased to send greetings to the 10th Plenary Meeting of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development. The global recession has constrained government budgets in many countries. Climate change, natural disasters, and volatility in food and commodity prices have further widened the gap in funding for development needs. Your Group’s efforts, which now bring together 63 developed and developing countries in partnership with the United Nations and other international agencies, civil society and the private sector, are more important than ever. Since 2006, innovative mechanisms such as the International Finance Facility for Immunization, the Solidarity Levy on Airline Tickets, Debt2Health swaps and the Advance Market Commitments have raised nearly $6 billion for the health (...)