The eagle has landed: Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

By Robin Toskin and Agencies

The Fifa World Cup (often called the Football World Cup, Soccer World Cup or simply the World Cup) is the most important competition in international football, and the world’s most representative team sport event.

Organised by Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), the sport’s governing body, the World Cup is contested by the men’s national football teams of Fifa member nations.

The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (except in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II), however, it is more of an ongoing event as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over three years preceding the final rounds.

Current holder

The final tournament phase (often called the “Finals”) involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals.

Brazil is the current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each.

The 2010 World Cup final will be held in South Africa, the first time it is held in Africa. No other sporting event captures the world’s imagination like the Fifa World Cup.

Ever since the first tentative competition in Uruguay in 1930, Fifa’s (FÈdÈration Internationale de Football Association) flagship has constantly grown in popularity and prestige.

A group of visionary French football administrators, led in the 1920s by the Jules Rimet, are credited with the original idea of bringing the world’s strongest national football teams together to compete for World Champions.

Jules Rimet

The original gold trophy bore Jules Rimet’s name and was contested three times in the 1930s, before the Second World War put a 12-year stop to the competition.

When it resumed, the Fifa World Cup rapidly advanced to its undisputed status as the greatest single sporting event of the modern world.

Held since 1958 alternately in Europe and the Americas, the World Cup broke new ground with the Executive Committee’s decision in May 1996 to select Korea and Japan as co-hosts for the 2002 edition.

The Fifa World Cup has also been punctuated by dramatic upsets that have helped create footballing history – the United States defeating England in 1950, North Korea’s defeat of Italy in 1966, Cameroon’s emergence in the 1980s and their opening match defeat of the Argentinean cup-holders in 1990.

“The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.”

 

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ZAMBIA: New infections on the rise – HIV is causing deaths worldwide

Photo: IRIN

Low condom use is still driving new infections

LUSAKA, 9 November 2009 (PlusNews) – An estimated 82,700 Zambians will become newly infected with HIV in 2009, up from just over 70,000 in 2007, according to new figures from the National AIDS Council.

The 2009 Zambia HIV Prevention Response and Modes of Transmission Analysis noted that the percentage of new HIV infections had stabilized, but the absolute number of new infections increased due to population growth.

As many as 71 out of every 100 new infections occur as a result of sex with a non-regular partner, while people who reported having only one sexual partner accounted for around 21 percent of new infections.

“This shows significant HIV risk even for those who are faithful. The country is facing new and tough challenges to reduce the infection rate because the disease is threatening the foundation of families and marriages,” the report commented.

Other drivers of Zambia’s epidemic are low levels of male circumcision in most parts of the country and inadequate condom use, particularly among discordant couples (in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other negative).

Although Zambia has recorded successes in its prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme, ensuring a safe blood supply, and behaviour-change communication campaigns, the authors recommended urgently focusing future prevention efforts on curbing common practices such as having multiple concurrent partners, transactional sex and inter-generational sex.

“Multiple concurrent partnerships are the leading cause of HIV infection in Zambia. Within these relationships, correct and consistent use of condoms remains dismally low despite condoms being readily available, in most cases free of charge,” President Rupiah Banda said at the opening of the National HIV Prevention Convention in Lusaka, the capital, last week, and called for more concerted efforts to curb new infections.

However, the report revealed that the annual estimated requirement was 200 million male condoms and 2 million female condoms, yet only 96 million male and 500,000 female condoms were available.

Vice President George Kunda blamed the high number of new infections on the poor uptake of HIV/AIDS services and reluctance to change risky behaviours.

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KENYA: New survey to inform HIV programming for MSM

 

Photo: IRIN

HIV programming for MSM is extremely limited despite the country’s national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS classing them as a “most at-risk population”

NAIROBI, 9 November 2009 (PlusNews) – A planned national survey of men who have sex with men (MSM) will be the first step in the government’s plan to incorporate this high-risk group into the country’s HIV programme, a senior government official has said.

“We have continued to ignore this group of people yet they are responsible for a big chunk of new HIV infections; we have resolved as a government that we cannot sit back and wait for things to get out of hand,” said Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme (NASCOP).

There have been few studies on HIV among MSM in Kenya; a survey of 285 men in Mombasa in 2007 found an HIV prevalence of 43 percent among men who had sex with men exclusively, compared with 12.3 percent among men who had sex with both men and women. Kenya’s national HIV prevalence is 7.4 percent.

HIV programming for MSM is extremely limited despite the country’s national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS classing them as a “most at-risk population”.

“We cannot do this [provide HIV programmes for MSM] without knowing roughly how many they are and what special needs they require; I hope the survey that we will embark on will help us answer some of these questions,” Muraguri said.

He noted that the survey – due to start in December and last six months – will attempt to discover information such as the specific sexual health risks and needs of MSM, MSM “hot spots” around the country, and the number of MSM-friendly health facilities available.

It will use respondent-driven sampling, recruiting openly gay men to reach out to other MSM who may not be out of the closet, and using existing MSM-friendly facilities to help conduct the research.

High hopes for better services

Joshua* is a male commercial sex worker in Nairobi who recently received training from NASCOP on reaching out to his peers with HIV/AIDS messages.

“Today I talked to 75 male commercial sex workers – 40 of them are HIV-positive but they do not know what to do,” he told IRIN/PlusNews. “Many are homeless after being kicked out of their homes due to stigma.”

Joshua hopes the survey will enable the government and NGOs to provide more services to MSM.

“Currently at a clinic in Nairobi, we are given one bottle of [water-based] lubricant to last three months but you know as a commercial sex worker, you finish it in a week,” he added. “So it means for the remaining time, you engage in sex without the lubricant, putting yourself at great risk.”

He noted that there was also a lack of sufficient knowledge about the risks associated with HIV and anal sex in the general population. “Many women [clients] approach us for anal sex wrongly believing that it lowers their chances of getting infected,” he said. “Everybody should be educated on the dangers of this kind of sex because it seems people have the wrong perception.”

However, not all MSM are as enthusiastic about the prospect of being counted and questioned by a government that has thus far shown little support for the rights of MSM.

Not everyone on board

“People in this country are still very homophobic and we are stigmatized a lot; who will want to come out to agree that he is a homosexual? Let them address issues of stigma first,” said Donald*, who has not come out of the closet. “How do you convince me to come out and say I am a homosexual yet the same government that is asking me to do this criminalizes what I am engaged in?”

“I would rather they offered the services without going into the business of knowing who we are and trying to count us,” he added.

I would rather they offered us the services without going into the business of knowing who we are and trying to count us

Proof that homosexuality remains taboo in Kenya was not hard to come by on the streets of Nairobi: “To say they want to offer services to people who are engaged in acts that do not conform to the law is taking this issue of human rights too far,” said Lynette Moseti. “That money can be used to help children who are living with HIV.”

Homosexuality remains illegal in Kenya, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. According to Muraguri, however, the urgency of the problem necessitated ignoring the law. “Rigidity will only make our situation worse,” he said.

Muraguri stressed that the government’s survey did not intend to stigmatize MSM.

“We appreciate the stigma these people face and that would be [the] last thing we would want to do; even in other mainstream HIV services that the government offers we use data to offer services, so I do not think there is anything unusual about the survey,” he said.

Lorna Dias, MSM coordinator at Liverpool VCT (voluntary counselling and testing), Care and Treatment, one of the only organizations in the country that provides services to MSM, says the planned survey shows that the government is serious about tackling the epidemic among most at-risk populations.

“It is a positive step and a clear indication that the government is ready to open up to the reality that men who have sex with men pose a great risk to the war against HIV unless they are integrated within mainstream HIV and AIDS programmes,” she said. “The next step should be to de-stigmatize them and see them as normal people who need services like everybody else.”

*(not their real names)

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GLOBAL: AIDS activists laud lifting of US HIV travel ban

 

Photo: F18E777/Flickr

The ban has been in place for over two decades

NAIROBI, – A 22-year-old ban on people infected with HIV entering the US was officially lifted on 2 November, with the new rules taking effect in 60 days. AIDS activists have hailed the move as a major coup in the fight against stigma.

“This comes as very good news for us,” Michael Angaga, regional coordinator for the Network of African People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAP+), told IRIN/PlusNews.

“For so long HIV-positive people have felt isolated by one of the greatest nations in the world, which should be spearheading human rights.” Angaga said he looked forward to seeing the new rules rapidly implemented in US embassies around the world.

In 1987 HIV was added to the list of communicable diseases that could prevent infected immigrants, students and tourists from obtaining visas to enter the US without special permission. President Barack Obama’s announcement on 30 October marked the end of a process started in 2008 by then US President George W. Bush, who signed a law repealing these restrictions.

“We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic, yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it,” Obama was reported as saying.

Samuel Kibanga, national coordinator of the National Forum of People living with HIV/AIDS Networks in Uganda, commented: “This shows that America can now see the reality that people living with HIV are just like any other people, deserving of the right to free movement – the travel ban was discrimination of the highest calibre.”

The UNAIDS International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights state that any restriction on liberty of movement or choice of residence based on suspected or real HIV status alone, including HIV screening of international travellers, is discriminatory.

Governments usually give two main reasons for imposing travel restrictions on HIV-positive people: to help control the spread of HIV, and save host countries the cost of HIV-related treatment, but Kibanga said these regulations merely drove the problem of HIV underground.

“People fear to reveal their status when travelling. It is better to be with someone who feels free to be open about their status than one who is hiding it,” he said. “That way we can all fight AIDS as partners.”

A June 2009 report by watchdog organization Human Rights Watch, found that immigration laws and stringent requirements for accessing free health care often created insurmountable barriers to treatment and care for migrants living with HIV.

Kibanga said he hoped the US’s move would serve as an example to other nations. According to UNAIDS, 59 countries impose some form of travel restrictions on people living with HIV.

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SOUTH AFRICA: Battle won for HIV-positive soldiers

Photo: IRIN

An estimated 25 percent of SANDF employees are HIV positive

JOHANNESBURG, 11 November 2009 (PlusNews) – The South African cabinet has approved a new policy prohibiting discrimination against soldiers and would-be recruits on the basis of their HIV status.

Previously, HIV-positive members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) could be excluded from recruitment, international deployment, and promotion, but a 2008 high court decision declared such policies unconstitutional and gave the SANDF six months to amend them.

The high court case was brought by the AIDS Law Project (ALP) on behalf of the South African Security Forces Union (SASFU) and two HIV-positive men. One man was an SANDF member who had not been allowed to join his unit on foreign deployments; the other had been denied employment in the SANDF, based on his status.

The ALP expressed disappointment about the length of time the SANDF took to comply with the court order and the persistence of unfair discrimination against HIV-positive soldiers and recruits, but in October one of the men, Sergeant Sipho Mthethwa, became the first known HIV-positive soldier to be deployed on international service.

The SANDF had argued that people living with HIV were unfit to withstand the stress and physical demands of foreign deployments. An estimated 25 percent of SANDF employees are HIV positive, higher than the national adult prevalence of 18 percent.

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The good humanitarian donorship principles say donors must invest in prevention and risk reduction

GLOBAL: Mixed scorecard for donors

Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

The good humanitarian donorship principles say donors must invest in prevention and risk reduction to minimize the human cost of disasters (file photo)

DAKAR,  – The world’s wealthiest donors do not put enough into helping communities prevent and prepare for disaster, says the non-profit DARA International, in its third annual rating of donors on quality and efficacy of humanitarian aid.

Using the principles donors adopted in the 2003 good humanitarian donorship (GHD) initiative, the Humanitarian Response Index assesses donor performance in assisting people affected by crises.

Released on 10 November, the 2009 HRI says wealthy countries’ support for prevention remains weak, while disasters – many climate-related – and conflicts mount.

The good donorship principles stress the need for donors to invest in prevention and risk reduction to minimize the human costs of disasters, DARA (Development Assistance Research Associates) says. “Countless lives and livelihoods could be saved if the international community made a concerted effort to prevent human suffering” through better preparedness measures.

HRI rankings

Norway Sweden Ireland Denmark European Commission Netherlands Luxembourg Switzerland United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Finland Canada United States Spain Germany Belgium Austria Japan France Italy Greece Portugal

“A serious shift in donor policy and practice is needed to scale up support for conflict and disaster prevention and risk reduction efforts at the community level,” the report says. This requires new funding, DARA executive director Silvia Hidalgo told IRIN.

Many aid experts say preparedness often falls through the funding cracks – not a top priority in emergency relief operations or in long-term development.

Hidalgo said donors must create more flexible funding pools in order to address prevention. “[Prevention] is too weak right now and it has to be everyone’s [humanitarian and development actors’] business to engage in it.”

Per Byman, head of the humanitarian team at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), agreed that donors do not support disaster preparedness to the extent necessary, but said it must be incorporated into development.

“The main challenge is to make disaster preparedness an integral part of development, not humanitarian response,” Byman told IRIN.

He agreed that disaster risk reduction (DRR) must be integrated into humanitarian work. “But in order to reduce poverty and reach the Millennium Development Goals [disaster preparedness/DRR] must be an integral part of development programmes and integrated into poverty reduction strategies.”

DARA notes the continued gap in donor support for the transition from relief to recovery and development. Humanitarian assistance should include long-term strategies for both DRR and climate change adaptation, the HRI report says.

Other “serious gaps” in how the international community deals with crises, according to DARA, are in ensuring access to at-risk populations and boosting the capacity of local organizations.

Tough environment

DARA looked at 22 donor governments and the European Commission, which together provided about US$10.4 billion in humanitarian assistance in 2008 to help some 250 million people affected by crises.

Good donorship

• Disasters where donors displayed greatest adherence to good humanitarian donorship principles were in East Timor, Sri Lanka, followed by Chad, Georgia, Colombia, and Afghanistan • Disasters where donors showed least adherence were in Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Haiti • Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden are the most generous donors in terms of humanitarian assistance against gross national income 2009 HRI

This is “far less than required” to meet humanitarian needs, DARA said, noting that in late October the UN alone reported a $3.6-billion funding gap for humanitarian programmes covering 43 million people.

DARA said the global economic crisis has led to an “unprecedented shortfall”. The report said donors and humanitarian agencies faced increasingly complex and difficult working environments, with the scale of disasters rising, security problems reducing humanitarian space and staff and budget cuts limiting capacity.

The HRI 2009 ranks donors on five “pillars”: responding to needs; prevention, risk reduction and recovery; working with humanitarian partners; protection and international law; and learning and accountability.

DARA’s Hidalgo noted some progress in coordination. “Donors are engaging more with each other than they were in the past” and have become more oriented to accountability drives like Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP), she said.

But knowledge among donors of the GHD principles and how to uphold them slipped over the past year, she said.

Good gauge?

Some donors have been critical of the HRI approach. Sida’s Byman told IRIN that while it is important to look at donors in terms of the GHD principles, the “naming and shaming” mode is not the best way to go. “We prefer to address GHD issues in bilateral discussions or through joint action within the GHD Initiative.”

He added: “We have doubts about the methodology [of the HRI] and about whether the report is an accurate representation of all aspects of humanitarian aid.”

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Security is a major problem for aid workers in Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN: Top five humanitarian needs

Photo: Obinna Anyadike/IRIN

Security is a major problem for aid workers in Afghanistan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KABUL,  – Eight years after the overthrow of the Taliban and billions of dollars spent on aid, Afghanistan remains mired in poverty and deeply insecure.

IRIN asked three experts what they considered were the country’s top five humanitarian needs. The following comments are from Reto Stoker, head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Laurent Saillard, director of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief; and Raz Mohammad Dalili, executive director of Sanayee Development Organization, one of the country’s oldest NGOs.

Top five: 1

Reto Stoker: “Human security – to be able to get basic services and to move from A to B. Both sides are trying to win hearts and minds, and you hear it said that 80 percent of Afghans are on the fence: the truth is that 80 percent of people are in the ditch, and are trying to resist both sides pulling and pushing. As a farmer you have to be either pro- international forces or pro-Taliban. You may be forced to feed the Taliban at night, while risking being asked by the international forces why you did that the next morning.”

Laurent Saillard: “Access is the biggest challenge – to the population, to information, to independent funding. We need better routing of financing so humanitarian agencies can be protected from being associated with the parties to the conflict. We need needs-based funding without a political agenda; principled assistance regardless of [which part of the country] the beneficiaries are living [in].”

Raz Mohammad Dalili: “The Afghan government doesn’t have a good strategy to bring changes to the lives of Afghans. There is corruption, slow delivery of development, and a perception that some government ministers are working for their own benefit.”

Top five: 2

Photo: Khaled Nahiz/ IRIN

Malnourishment among children is on the rise

RS: “We’re getting more and more malnourished children. They could be treated at the local health centre, or helped [at home] through a little education provided to the mothers. But they come in a very malnourished state, weeks too late. [Because of the insecurity] taxis will only carry them for a very high fare. So many wait and wait until it’s too late, or nearly too late. The number of people dying from the indirect humanitarian consequences [of the fighting] is much higher than those dying as a direct result of the conflict. Security is not just threatened by a roadside bomb or an air strike, it is a much more integrated concept.”

LS: “Dialogue – we need to talk to all parties to the conflict. Only ICRC and MSF [Médecins sans Frontières] have started this. Maybe we need to agree to a code for humanitarian access accepted by all parties to the conflict. An agreement won’t guarantee safety [of humanitarian agencies in the field], but at least it can provide a moral agreement at the political level.”

RMD: “The capacity of ministers: many come from a political, not a development background, they don’t know how to work to bring change. The international coalition has spent a lot of money; if it had been spent on the people, there would have been big changes in Afghanistan. One of the big reasons that the Taliban has followers is because of poverty; as a follower you receive money from the Taliban and you have the opportunity to loot.”

Top five: 3

RS: “Humanitarian access feeds into the problem of services. When people are displaced you assess the situation, either provide assistance or protection – for example an intervention with the parties to the conflict so that people can go back home. Currently there is very little understanding of the problem of displacement; no one fully understands the mechanisms causing short- long-term or partial displacement. There is very little information coming out [of the conflict areas] to understand what’s going on. There are no sufficiently clear ideas of the conditions in their home areas, and you cannot put accurate figures on the numbers of people that have been forced to move.”

LS: “Strengthen coordination and information gathering mechanisms: programmes are based on assumptions rather than reliable, measurable indicators. The problem is they can give you a flawed picture and you can end up doing more harm than good.”

RMD: “Community peace building – not political peace building – is needed for Afghanistan. We need peace shuras (traditional councils) in the community, solving conflicts within the communities. This kind of project is very necessary for Afghans who have spent 30 years in war.”

Top five: 4

Photo: Ebadi/WFP

Access to vulnerable populations is another big challenge

RS: “Everyone needs to admit that there is an intense and widespread conflict with very significant direct and even more so indirect humanitarian consequences. The role and work of humanitarian actors, particularly those that have stuck to fundamental principles, needs to be respected; all parties to the conflict must be reminded of their obligation under international humanitarian law and human rights law; and ICRC’s specific role as a neutral and independent humanitarian organization acting as a neutral intermediary needs to be respected.”

LS: “We need a major reconciliation process – a nationwide consultation to determine Afghan identity. Do we have common elements, can we try and see what unites people rather than divides them? More and more Afghans are being identified as Taliban, as terrorists. What impact does that have on living together, for building rather than destroying? What does it mean to be an Afghan after 30 years of war?”

RMD: “Invest more money in the basic needs of health and sanitation; we need good programmes for poverty reduction. For the cost of keeping one foreign soldier [out of a deployment of over 100,000] in Afghanistan we could [employ] over 40 Afghans. If $500 came to each family [through a breadwinner] nobody will join the Taliban.”

Top five: 5

RS: “Give young people a job and a salary – something to be proud of.”

LS: “Protection is the other big issue: there is no proper distinction being made between combatants and non-combatants.”

RMD: “We need to bring pressure on the government to change their system, to reduce bureaucracy, to reduce corruption, to select good ministers and the ministers should be responsible to the people.”

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The Global Fund supports 2.3 million people on life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs

GLOBAL: Falling foul of the fund

Photo: Global Fund

The Global Fund supports 2.3 million people on life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs

NAIROBI, 11 November 2009 (PlusNews) – Programmes supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reported 2.3 million people on life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in June 2009. Funding to beneficiary countries is based on performance, and failure to meet targets can lead to delays, suspension, discontinuation or termination of grants.

In November 2008, IRIN/PlusNews brought you a list of some of the countries that have fallen foul of the Fund’s strict accounting procedures; here is an updated version.

Kenya – In November 2009 the Global fund’s technical review panel – an independent team of health and development experts – recommended that the Global Fund Board reject a bid for $270 million in Round 9 of funding. The chair of Kenya’s CCM said the main reason given was poor coordination between the country’s two health ministries.

The government has experienced difficulties with its Global Fund proposals in the past. In 2008 the Global Fund rejected Kenya’s application for $300 million in Round 8, and $37 million was delayed in 2003 after claims of corruption in the National AIDS Control Council.

Mauritania – In September 2009 the Global Fund suspended support to the Executive Secretariat of the National AIDS Committee after finding evidence of fraudulent and unjustified expenditures. The Fund demanded the reimbursement of US$1.7 million within three months, and immediate removal of the people identified as responsible.

The new government, named in September after presidential elections in June, began proceedings against four National AIDS Committee members suspected of embezzlement. The State has promised to return the $1.7 million and account for a further $2 million whose use was questioned, and has committed to re-structuring the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), Mauritania’s funding management body; CCM weakness is seen as contributing to the problems.

Philippines – In September 2009 the Global Fund suspended all five of its grants to the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) – the principal recipient – after an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General found that around $1 million of $85 million in total disbursements were unauthorized expenditure. The Global Fund has demanded repayment and will transfer the TDF’s grants to a new principal recipient.

Zimbabwe – in 2009 the Global Fund decided to bypass the National AIDS Council as the principal recipient of existing and future grants, choosing to channel money through the United Nations Development Programme and paving the way for the country to receive a grant of $37.9 million in August.

Zimbabwe has had a turbulent relationship with the Global Fund; several proposals have been rejected and the government has frequently accused the Geneva-based agency of political bias, which the Fund denies.

Chad – In 2006 the Global Fund suspended support after an audit uncovered misuse of funds and a lack of satisfactory capacity in the principal recipient and sub-recipients to manage the Fund’s resources. The suspension was lifted in 2007 after a series of investigations and commitments from stakeholders to put better systems in place.

Nigeria – In 2006 the Fund decided to discontinue its Round 1 support for HIV/AIDS programmes, but awarded other HIV/AIDS grants in Round 5.

Myanmar – In 2005 the global Fund terminated grants worth $98.4 million after the government imposed temporary restrictions on travel and new procedures for reviewing the procurement of medical and other supplies. The Fund said at the time that the restrictions “prevented implementation of performance-based and time-bound programs in the country”.

Senegal – In 2005 the Fund cut malaria grants worth $7.1 million over systemic issues that resulted in poor performance. A grant proposal for malaria projects submitted in Round 4 was later approved.

South Africa – In 2005 the Global Fund Board stopped funding for an HIV prevention programme. The Board decided that the grant, received by an NGO named loveLife, had failed to “sufficiently address weaknesses in its implementation”.

Uganda – In 2005 the Global Fund temporarily suspended all five of its grants after a review by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers found “serious mismanagement” of one of the grants by the Project Management Unit in the Ministry of Health.

The grants were worth $201 million over two years, of which $45.4 million had been disbursed. The health minister and his two deputies lost their positions and are standing trial with several other government officials for the misuse of Global Fund money.

Ukraine – In 2004 the Global Fund temporarily withdrew grants worth $92 million citing “management issues”. The grants were reinstated six weeks later, when a new principal recipient, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, was put in place.

Pakistan – In 2002 the Fund discontinued support for Pakistan’s malaria projects because of weak project implementation, slow procurement of health products, poor data quality, and slow spending of project funds; according to reports, only 15 percent of insecticide treated bed nets were distributed during the grant period.

Several other countries, including Bolivia, East Timor, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Togo, have also had funding proposals rejected, or have had funding withdrawn. Countries can appeal a grant decision when a proposal has been rejected in two consecutive rounds.

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