PRESS
RELEASE
14 November 2001
NEW FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA
SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIPS WITH NGOS AND CIVIL SOCIETY
NGO consultation brings community realities to fund design
BRUSSELS,
14 November -- The rich experience of NGOs and civil society
organizations facing the challenges wrought by AIDS, TB
and malaria must be taken into account in any new initiative
to fight these diseases, according to participants in a
two-day meeting in Brussels organized to involve NGOs in
the development of the new Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and malaria. Representatives from NGOs and civil society
organizations from different regions, including Africa,
Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America, met on Monday
and Tuesday, 12-13 November, to discuss how the new Fund
should be designed to best meet country needs.
"This
has been a very successful meeting. We brought together
over 70 representatives from NGOs and networks of people
living with HIV/AIDS, working in all regions of the world,
and elaborated concrete recommendations for the TWG
", said Mick Matthews, Coordinator of the UK AIDS Consortium
who organized the meeting in collaboration with the Technical
Support Secretariat of the TWG. "NGOs are among the
primary delivery mechanism for the three diseases and must
be involved and represented at all levels of the Funds activities.
In our view, NGO participation must be ensured in decision-making
at all levels ", he said.
This
consultation, sponsored by the government of Italy, is one
of a series of consultation meetings being arranged to garner
the input and relevant insight of representatives from stakeholders
crucial to the implementation of the Fund. Other meetings
are being held with delegations from countries in Africa,
Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Rounding out the consultation process has been a meeting
with representatives of academia.
"The
consultations are an essential feature in the process to
set up the parameters of the Fund", said Paul
Ehmer, Team Leader of the Technical Support Secretariat
of the Transitional Working Group (TWG). The TWG has been
tasked with building the foundations and working principles
of the Fund. "This is not business as usual. We want
to use the lessons learnt from past experience. This is
why the TWG will base its decisions on thorough consultations
with all stakeholders, and in particular with those who
will benefit from the Fund, " he said.
The
TWG, comprised of nearly 40 representatives of developing
and developed 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 that include 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.
One
of the Fund’s principle is to strengthen the participation
of people living with these diseases. "The active involvement
of people living with HIV & AIDS, TB, and malaria in
this consultation process indicates the intended commitment
by the Fund to involve people living with and most affected
by these life-threatening diseases at all levels,"
said an HIV-positive participant. "This ensures that
our needs and concerns are heard, and that the Fund will
focus on the most effective programs. "
