NAMIBIA: Global Fund rejects HIV/AIDS proposal

Johannesburg, 10 November 2006 (PlusNews) - The rejection of Namibia's latest grant request to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria has created an air of uncertainty among local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs).

Penina Ita, director of local NGO, the AIDS Care Trust, and also a member of the Country Co-ordinating Mechanism compiling the grant proposal, feared the Fund's decision could have far-reaching consequences for the beneficiaries of a number of anti-AIDS interventions.

"Although we [NGOs] rely heavily on the handouts of donors, I expect the beneficiaries of various programmes might suffer the most," she told IRIN/PlusNews.

In July the government and several NGOs had applied for around US$50 million to sustain various anti-AIDS projects over a five-year period, but allegedly failed to meet the standards set by the Fund's Technical Review Panel (TRP), which assesses eligible grant proposals on technical merit.

Confirming that Namibia's funding request had been turned down, Jon Liden, a spokesman for the Global Fund, said the country was not entirely without the support of the Fund, and still had resources and time to request grants in round seven, in the first half of 2007.

"It is just a matter of the government and its partners having to resubmit by the due date, while examining weaknesses raised by the TRP. At least 43 percent of eligible recipient countries are in the process of being advised to do so - Namibia is not alone," Liden said.

The Southern African nation's submission also included an appeal for almost $16 million for malaria projects over two years, of which the Fund approved $10 million.

However, Ita said it was difficult not to feel slighted, especially after Namibia had been recognised as an example of success at the recent UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York, after achieving 50 percent of its national treatment needs.

She suggested that besides reviewing the grant proposals put to them, the TRP could do well to visit some of the sites and beneficiaries of the NGOs who depended on their goodwill.

In its '2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic', UNAIDS estimated an adult HIV prevalence rate of 21.3 percent in Namibia, while the number of orphans and vulnerable children stood at 150,000 by the end of 2005.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]