REPORT SAYS FUNDING FOR KEY POPULATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN IS SCARCE

Author:

Bernard Rivers

Article Type:

Article Number: 5

ABSTRACT Only a small proportion of funds for sub-recipients of Global Fund grants in Latin America and the Caribbean are reaching organisations representing the key population groups where the HIV epidemic is largely concentrated, according to a report prepared by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.

Only a small proportion of funds for sub-recipients (SRs) of Global Fund grants in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are reaching organisations representing the key population groups where the HIV epidemic is largely concentrated – i.e., men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgenders, and, in some countries, drug users. This is the main conclusion of a report prepared by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in April 2009.

The report is based on an analysis of 15 Global Fund grants in Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru, Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean. The report said that of the $170 million that was given to SRs for these 15 grants, only 4.6 percent went to key population organisations. It also said that no organisations representing transgenders were selected as SRs for any of the grants, even though prevalence studies in some parts of LAC suggest rates of up to 45 percent among this population.

(Although more that 75 percent of the funds for SRs went to civil society organisations, most of them are not organisations led by key populations.)

In addition to the 4.6 percent of funds that went to key population organisations as SRs, a further 2.5 percent went to key population organisations serving as sub-sub-recipients (SSRs).

Of the funds that went to key population organisations as SRs, organisations of people living with HIV received just over 50 percent, and organisations representing men who have sex with men, women living with HIV and sex workers received about 28 percent, 16 percent and six percent respectively.

The report found that where key populations have a strong presence on CCMs, key population organisations are more likely to be selected as SRs; and that key population organisations are more likely to be selected as SRs in grants that have a civil society PR.

The report identified four main barriers to key population organisations receiving funds as SRs:

• lack of capacity among key population organisations
• difficulties accessing and understanding Global Fund-related information “owned” by PRs and CCMs
• under-representation of key populations on CCMs
• lack of relevant and up-to-date epidemiological data, particularly among transgenders and sex workers

The report recommends, among other things, that staff in key population organisation be trained in proposal development and in how to participate strategically in country-level decisions related to the Global Fund; that CCMs be more transparent in their decision-making; and that the Global Fund Secretariat play a stronger role in promoting the participation of key population organisations in the Global Fund process.

The report, entitled “Report on Access to Global Fund Resources by HIV/AIDS Key Populations in Latin America and the Caribbean,” is available in English and Spanish at www.aidsalliance.org/custom_asp/publications/view.asp?publication_id=350&language=en.