World Bank gives $77 million to help reduce HIV/AIDS

The World Bank has approved a US $77 million grant for Tanzania to support the country's HIV/AIDS reduction efforts, the bank reported on Monday. A statement issued from the bank's headquarters in Washington DC indicated that the money would also be used to promote the "sustainable conservation and management of the Eastern Arc forests". The Eastern Arc comprises a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania that are influenced by the Indian Ocean. These mountains are heavily covered by forests and serve as water catchments for urban areas such as Dar es Salaam, Tanga, and Morogoro in Tanzania. The bank said the grant has been allocated for Tanzania's Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project, which will support the government's National Programme for HIV/AIDS over five years, between 2003 and 2008. "This project will support activities in the priority areas of prevention and the mitigation of the health and socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS at individual, household and community levels, as well as the strengthening of national capacity to respond to the epidemic," Albertus Voetberg, the World Bank team leader for the project, said. The Tanzanian government's programme is aimed at reducing the spread of HIV through multi-sectoral action involving the government, NGOs, civil society and community organisations, the bank statement indicated. Voetberg said that the national programme and project-financed activities will focus on assistance to vulnerable groups, including persons living with HIV/AIDS, orphans and youths. Regarding the Eastern Arc Forests Conservation and Management Project, the bank said an endowment fund would be established to provide long-term financing for conservation activities in the Eastern Arc mountains. "The project will support implementation of institutional reforms for better forest management and provide mechanisms for sustainable financing of biodiversity conservation," the statement read. According to the bank, the Eastern Arc forests have the highest known number of plant and animal species of any region in Tanzania, and represent one of the "oldest and most stable terrestrial ecosystems on the continent". Globally, these forests are recognised as one of 25 biodiversity hotspots with high concentrations of endemic species under considerable threat, the bank said. "The funding of these projects, approved by the World Bank’s Board on 3 June 2003, is in line with the bank’s strategy to assist the government of Tanzania to resume progress made in poverty reduction in the late 1980s," the bank statement indicated.