MALAWI: AIDS organisations face
funding interruptions
JOHANNESBURG, 7 October 2008
(PlusNews) - Grassroots AIDS
organisations in Malawi are facing
uncertainty as the National AIDS
Commission (NAC) ends its dependence
on international non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) for dispersing
grants.
The responsibility for channelling
funds to more than 3,000 AIDS
organisations working to alleviate
the impacts of HIV and AIDS in
Malawi has now shifted to local
government authorities known as
district assemblies.
Dr Bizwick Mwale, the NAC's
executive director, explained to
IRIN/PlusNews that the NGOs, called
umbrella bodies, were contracted in
2003 to disperse AIDS funding from
donors and government until the
district assemblies had built
sufficient capacity to take over.
"We did an assessment after 18
months and found there was still a
gap [in capacity], so we extended
the contract to umbrellas for
another two years, with the view
that by that time [the district
assemblies] would be ready," he
said. Some responsibilities of the
umbrella organisations have already
been transferred to the assemblies.
A number of AIDS organisations have
expressed concern about both the
readiness and the trustworthiness of
some district assemblies to
distribute funds.
"Our membership is worried because
the processes involved will be
lengthy, and there are some reports
that when a CBO (community-based
organisation) comes up with a
proposal, [the district assemblies]
demand a certain percentage from
this amount," said Ishmael Nkosi, a
policy and advocacy officer at the
Malawi Network of AIDS Service
Organisations (MANASO). "There are
also concerns that there will be a
lot of nepotism in the approving of
funds."
Nkosi said the previous arrangement
had not been without its problems as
it had been difficult to coordinate
efforts without the local
authorities. "In the new set-up, the
district assemblies will manage
programmes and be much more involved
in the national response," he said.
The funding maze
The flow of funding from
international donors to local
organisations working on the ground
is a long process, fraught with the
potential for bottlenecks and
delays.
McBride Nkhalamba, an HIV/AIDS
coordinator at the international
NGO, ActionAid, which served as one
of the NAC's umbrella bodies until
18 months ago, noted that
disbursements from the NAC were
often late or inconsistent.
BOs also experienced delays or the
cancellation of grants because they
lacked the skills or training to
adequately account for funds
received in the previous quarter.
"An organisation has to account
through a very rigorous system, and
some of the demands are
discriminatory, because if you're
dealing with a local organisation
there's only so much you can
expect," said Nkhalamba.
He noted that so much time often
elapsed between an organisation
writing a proposal and receiving the
funds to implement it that the
reality on the ground had sometimes
changed by the time the money
arrived.
ActionAid decided to terminate its
contract with the NAC when the
administrative burden became too
cumbersome. "We thought the primary
reason for engaging NGOs as
umbrellas was to allow for
innovation and greater efficiency,
but there was less space for that in
the implementation," commented
Nkhalamba.
According to Mwale of the NAC,
organisations should brace
themselves for some disruption in
the disbursement of grants while
district assemblies take over from
the umbrella bodies.
Mathias Milanzi, who works for a CBO
that assists orphans and vulnerable
children in Blantyre, Malawi’s
commercial hub, said his
organisation was still waiting to
receive funding for the 2008 October
to December quarter. "We have a big
problem with lack of food," he told
IRIN/PlusNews. "We need some more
money."
ks/he
See also: MALAWI: Accounting for
AIDS funding no small matter
Themes: (IRIN) Aid Policy, (IRIN)
HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), (IRIN)
PWAs/ASOs - PlusNews
[ENDS]
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