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Article Published on:
4th November 2004. |
| HIV/AIDS money not reaching all |
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By Pamela Otali With so many NGOs and government departments involved in sensitisation and HIV/AIDS outreach programmes, it is easy to assume the whole country is being served. However, delegates at a recent meeting of the Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO) heard that money for HIV/AIDS programmes is not reaching every deserving organisation or patient. Ms Jane Kiremakedde Odunga, coordinator of Busia Compassionate Friend, appealed to donors to support the outlying border district of Busia. In an interview, she said that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Busia is 34 per cent (against a national average of 6 percent). In spite of this, she said, there is only one NGO to the whole district. Community based organisations (CBOs) exist but lack donor or government funding. “There is no provision for HIV/AIDS in the district budget. It is not taken as a priority,” Kiremakedde said. UNASO officials explained that the lack of funding for Busia is partly because the high prevalence rate in the district is a new phenomenon that came up after other areas had been considered. UNASO is itself also not a beneficiary of the well-funded Global Fund. The Global Fund Project Management Unit (PMU) rejected UNASO’s proposal because it arrived after deadline. As a result, 60 CBOs in six districts that were supposed to benefit as sub grantees are left out. PMU officials insist that they strictly followed public procurement regulations to reject all late proposals. But while the funding agencies quarrel, intended grassroots beneficiaries are suffering. Kiremakedde said that the lack of money, for mobilisation and sensitisation, leaves a large majority of the population in ignorance of the facts and issues about HIV/AIDS. “Sex workers are too many, and even 13-year olds are selling themselves on the streets.” She said CBOs are trying to help using local donations but cannot do much without substantive funding. |
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