World Bank chided on loans and grants

KENYA: World Bank chided on loans and grants

JOHANNESBURG, 11 Oct 2005 (PLUSNEWS) - Former Mozambican First Lady Graca Machel has urged the World Bank to help Kenya tackle HIV/AIDS by allocating grants instead of loans, the BBC reported on Monday.

At a recent meeting with Kenya's National AIDS Control Council (NACC) in the capital, Nairobi, Machel said it was unfair to encumber the country with a loan when the money was intended for prolonging the lives of HIV-positive people.

"We have to bring them [the Bank] to their senses, as we are talking about human lives; negotiate with them, step on their toes," she instructed NACC members after the Bank had reportedly rejected Kenya's grant application and decided to advance loans instead.

Machel warned that repaying the loans would burden future generations.

[ENDS]

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