[2] In her keynote address to the Forum in 1999 Gro Harlem Brundtland, then Director–General of WHO, declared that the Global Forum was key in the involvement of all the various levels, sectors and disciplines of "development agencies, the research community, health workers and end–users".
[3] The Global Forum represents all the parties interested in health research: governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), United Nations agencies, research centers, universities, and the pharmaceutical industry.
[1][4] It is run by a governing council and provides support to programmes of research that benefit the developing world.
[citation needed] The Global Forums take place in a different international location each year: Geneva, Bangkok, Arusha, Mexico City, Mumbai, Cairo.
[6] As a non-profit foundation the Global Forum is currently funded by the World Bank, the WHO; the governments of Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland; and private philanthropy groups including the Rockefeller Foundation.