Another Global Fund blacklisting possible

Uganda may again lose its support from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, just months after having had a suspension lifted, the local Monitor newspaper reported. Some activists suspected that a possible suspension of funds could be due to government failure over the past two years to manage a tendering process for the supply of US$13.4 million worth of anti-malarial nets, and a lack of transparency in AIDS spending. "This is all due to poor management and planning for the three diseases ... we don't have the competence, as a country, to handle the emergency fund, and it is not government alone that is blamed but also civil society organisations," said Beatrice Were, of ActionAid International. The Fund temporarily suspended its five grants to Uganda in August last year while it waited for the Ugandan Ministry of Finance to put in place a new structure to ensure the effective management of grants.