Nine Questions For The Global Fund

I sent this e-mail to Rosie Vanek at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria:

I have been covering the Global Fund’s curious suspension of all grants to Uganda on my blog, Cheat-Seeking Missiles. My posts are being picked up by a number of prominent bloggers, so thousands are reading the questions I am raising about your action.

I have raised a number of questions about the suspension, would appreciate your comments on them.

1. In reviewing the 122 releases posted on your site, I have found no examples where multiple grants to a country were suspended in this manner. The only two relevant cases, Myanmar and Senegal,did not involve charges of corruption. Have no other grants been suspended for corruption?
2. If the problem was allegedly with the AIDS/HIV program, why did you also suspend tuberculosis and malaria programs, which appears to be an action that needlessly puts lives at risk?
3. Releases on your site indicate that for a period of at least two years, Global Fund has been working with South Africa regarding problems with its grants. Why did you immediately suspend the Uganda grant, when it is evident that you are willing to work long-term with a country that is having trouble meeting your expectations?
4. What is the nature of the problem you experienced, or are experiencing, with South Africa?
5. Are you currently monitoring, or have you previously monitored, any other grant recipients as you monitored Uganda, i.e., with an outside firm like Pricewaterhousecooper?
6. Given the countries you lend to, it is evident that many governments with long histories of corruption receive funds. Why hasn’t the Global Fund seen it necessary to take similar actions against other countries? Is the Global Fund saying by its action against Uganda that problems encountered there were much greater than what you deal with regularly?
7. What part did Uganda’s emphasis on monogamy and abstinence have on your decision to suspend its grants?
8. What is Global Fund’s position on monogamy and abstinence programs?
9. What is Global Fund’s position on “safe sex” and condom programs without a monogamy and abstinence element?

I very much look forward to your prompt response.

I will share with you what I hear when I hear it.

If you would like to reach Ms. Vanek with your own questions or comments, she can be reached at rosie.vanek@theglobalfund.org, or at 41 (0) 22 791 5951.

See also:
Condomites In UN Attack Uganda
Finger-Pointing In Uganda
Ugandan AIDS Cut Unprecedented
Uganda AIDS Cut More Suspicious
Uganda Punished for Abstinence?