AS funding for Namibia's HIV-AIDS programmes dwindle, Government signed into agreement the second phase of the Ministry of Health and Social Services and GIZ multi-sectoral HIV-AIDS response programme.
Fifty per cent of the ministry's HIV-AIDS response programmes comes from international donor organisations.
And with the bombshell dropped by the Global Fund Secretariat in Geneva last month that it would cut its contributions for salaries in intervention programmes, the slice from international intervention is decreased.
Through the multi-sectoral agreement signed yesterday between the ministry and the GIZ [German Association for International Cooperation], the German partner will contribute towards internal and external mainstreaming of HIV-AIDS in the public and private sectors.
It will also be used to effect efficiency savings through improved management and coordination.
The counsellor for development cooperation at the German embassy in Namibia, Romeo Bertolini, said Namibia deserves more autonomy in its fight against HIV-AIDS.
"Despite the current challenges the Global Fund faces, I am convinced that the major contributors, Germany included, will acknowledge successful and innovative approaches in the partner countries," said Bertolini, adding that the Namibian partners should not "give up" on the Global Fund.
"Rather use the GF's 'creative destruction' and new orientation to facilitate your transition; the transition of a country that fights the epidemic by relying on external sources to one that is largely independent from foreign support and, in particular, leverages the potentials of the private sector," said Bertolini, adding, "We are ready to join forces with you in that respect."
Germany is contributing about 200 million Euros to the Global Fund's AIDS programmes annually.
Since the Global Fund's announcement, the health ministry is still calculating at a technical level the total cost implications of a medium take-over of the Namibia Global Fund Programme (NGFP) by the Namibian Government, the ministry's deputy permanent secretary, Dr Norbert Forster, said on Wednesday.
Forster said the ministry is continuing negotiations with the GF Secretariat regarding the salary matter.
"I hope that we can find a solution that will prevent putting the NGFP in jeopardy," said Forster. "As a fall-back position we are at this stage working at a technical level on calculating the total cost implications of a medium take-over of the NGFP by the Namibian Government."
Cabinet has directed that Government funding for tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS be increased while alternative sources of funding are explored and sourced.
Director of Special Programmes in the MoHSS, Ella Shihepo, yesterday said that Government has indeed increased its support for the HIV-AIDS programme.
The ministry has as a result been able to employ an additional 25 doctors since November last year.
Notwithstanding, said Shihepo, Global Fund's unwillingness to budge on the salary support means that the retention highly technical staff crucial for the success of Namibia's HIV-AIDS intervention programmes is now in the balance.
She said the ministry, as one of the two Principal Recipients of the Global Fund funding, has not received any money from the Fund since last year.
"It is not clear why. The Global Fund keeps on adding conditions and keeps asking for reports only to come back to us with unclear answers. We do not get GF reports even if members of the Secretariat visits the country," said Shihepo. "GF in Geneva has problems and it is filtering down to country level."
Executive Director of GF Michel Kazatchikine is stepping down in March after misuse of funds that led to a cutting back on new grants until 2014.
The public-private Global Fund finances about a quarter of international funding to fight HIV-AIDS, and provides the majority of funds to fight TB and malaria.
The knock-on effect for Namibian sub-recipient civil society organisations (CSOs) has been dire.
In a statement the CSOs in a joint statement said recent communication from the GF Secretariat on the Rolling Continuation Channel (RCC), the second phase of funding, is threatening the very structure of civil society in the country.
They said they have not received any disbursements from the RCC on time since the beginning of this year, adding that delays in disbursements last year meant that they had to take out loans or arrange for internal loans from core funds received from other donors to pay their bills.
On January 24, the GF Secretariat informed the organisations that no disbursements would be made until March without giving any valid reasons.
The CSOs said the salary cuts imposed on them renders the organisations unmanageable, saying they might have to retrench all their staff if the Global Fund forces them to implement reduced salaries.
The programmes of the CSOs are the first to suffer as some activities have to be scaled down, the organisations said.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201202170466.html
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