PRESS
RELEASE
15
November 2001
FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TB AND MALARIA SHOULD BE STRUCTURED
TO MEET REGIONAL NEEDS AND ENSURE RAPID DISBURSEMENTS
Asian countries urge decisions about eligibility and review
criteria by end of year
BANGKOK,
15 November – Systems to disburse resources from the new
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria should
capitalize on existing country and regional strategies and
mechanisms to ensure that funds reach countries as quickly
as possible, according to participants in a two-day meeting
in Bangkok organized to inform the development of the new
Fund. Over 60 representatives of 19 Asian country health
and foreign ministries as well as representatives of UN
organizations, civil society and NGOs gathered in Bangkok
on 14 and 15 November to discuss how the new Fund should
be designed to best meet the region's needs.
"The
new Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is a welcome
development in global health, and countries must be able
to access the resources quickly. Decisions about who will
be eligible and how proposals will be judged should therefore
be made by the end of the year", said Dr Suwit Wibulpolprasert,
Deputy Permanent Secretary for Thailand's Ministry of Public
Health, and a member of the Transitional Working Group (TWG)
which has been tasked with building the foundations and
working principles of the Fund. "Systems to review proposals
and disburse funds should utilize countries' existing coordination
mechanisms and experience in addressing the three diseases."
This
consultation, hosted by the government of Thailand with
support from WHO is one of a series of regional meetings
being arranged to solicit the input and relevant insight
of representatives from countries likely to receive support
from the Fund. Other meetings are being held with representatives
from countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America
and the Caribbean. Rounding out the consultation process
have been meetings with representatives of NGOs and academia.
"For
the Fund to be truly international, it will have
to be designed to reflect the views of all regions and countries.
That is why these country consultation meetings are so important",
said Mr Masakazu Toshikage, Director, Specialised Agencies
Administration Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Japan, and also a member of the TWG. "Donor and recipient
countries must be ready to make the decisions and develop
the strategies that will get proposals submitted, reviewed
and funded as soon as possible."
The
TWG, comprised of nearly 40 representatives of developing
and industrialized countries, UN agencies, the World Bank,
the private sector, foundations and NGOs, will next meet
in Brussels on 22-24 November. At this meeting – the second
of three – the participants will need to make final decisions
on a number of issues including governance, country implementation
processes, accountability, fiduciary and legal arrangements,
and frameworks for technical review of country proposals.
At
its first meeting in October, the TWG reached consensus
on the basic principles, purpose and scope of the Fund.
At its third and final meeting in mid-December, the TWG
intends to have made all the necessary arrangements to be
able to hand over operational responsibility to the ultimate
Board of the Fund.
