Christoph BENN

Director for Global Health Diplomacy at Joep Lange Institute

Christoph is currently serving as Director for Global Health Diplomacy at the Joep Lange Institute based in Amsterdam. His duty station is Geneva. He is focusing on innovations in health care financing particularly in Africa including the unique opportunities offered by the digital health revolution.
He has been a member of the founding board at the creation of the Global Fund in 2002. As Director of External Relations since 2003 he has been responsible for mobilizing the financial resources for the Global Fund through the management of its first five replenishment cycles and spearheading innovative approaches to resource mobilization including (Product) RED, Debt2Health and other instruments. Under his leadership, the Global Fund has mobilized pledges and contributions of more than USD 50 billion. He served as senior advisor to the Global Fund for its sixth replenishment that culminated in a pledging conference hosted by President Macron in Lyon, France in October 2019 mobilizing USD 14 billion in new pledges from public and private donors. He has extensive experience in managing political relations with governments and establishing partnerships with Civil Society and the Private Sector.

Prior to joining the Global Fund, Christoph worked as a clinician and public health specialist in the United Kingdom, Germany and as Doctor-in-Charge of a rural hospital in Tanzania. He has more than 30 years of experience in global health with a special focus on AIDS and infectious diseases, having worked as an advisor to many public health programs in Africa and Asia. He also has extensive experience in advocacy, having worked with NGOs and their networks around the world.

Christoph currently serves as a member of the International Advisory Board of the German Government on the development of a new global health strategy, as a trustee of Frontline AIDSin the UK and as a member of the board of the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA).