Global Fund fights diseases in Malawi
The Global Fund has allocated $574 million (about K22 billion) towards the fight against HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis in the country.
The funding was announced on Wednesday in Lilongwe during a meeting organised by Malawi Network of Aids Service Organisation (Manaso), which aimed at strengthening civil society’s capacity for effective participation in Global Fund processes.
Manaso executive director Lawrence Khonyongwa said local NGOs are supposed to meet specific operating standards for them to access funding from Global Fund.
“There are requirements to be fulfilled in terms of financial management system and governance before an organisation qualifies for sponsorship. We did a research on the performance of local NGOs in these areas and most of them were found wanting,” said Khonyongwa.
He said the NGOs have about seven months to master the required skills to qualify for sponsorship from Global Fund.
Khonyongwa has since appealed to the Government of Malawi to allocate a bigger chunk of money to the fight against HIV and Aids so as to stop reliance on donors.
“What we have observed is that 95 percent of the funding towards HIV and Aids programmes in the country is from external sources. If donors decided to pull out today, it will be a crisis,” said Khonyongwa.
