Global Fund is Flexible With Countries Affected by Tsunami

Author:

Bernard Rivers

Article Type:

Article Number: 6

ABSTRACT The Global Fund has informed Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India, the four countries most seriously affected by the December 26 tsunami, that it is willing to be flexible in how their grants are implemented.

The Global Fund has informed Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India, the four countries most seriously affected by the December 26 tsunami, that it is willing to be flexible in how their grants are implemented. The Principal Recipients and the CCMs in these countries were told they could request reprogramming of grants either because of tsunami-induced difficulties with implementing the grants as originally designed, or because the tsunami has created new perils, such as possible new outbreaks of malaria, that did not exist when the proposals were written.

As a result, the countries are considering whether to take actions such as reallocating resources to regions hardest hit, to shift funds from longer-term malaria interventions to short-term distribution of anti-malaria drugs or bed nets, or to reallocate funds to quickly re-establish the infrastructure necessary to sustain TB and AIDS treatment.

In Sri Lanka, where most of the districts implementing Global Fund-financed programs are severely affected by the tsunami, the CCM has requested, and the Fund has approved, a three-month extension of the Phase 2 renewal process.