By Roman Zakaluzny
Post Staff Writer
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has suspended monetary aid to Ukraine until the organization finds a �reliable� organization to manage it.
This is the first time the Fund has stopped the flow of money to any country. Currently, the Geneva-based Fund is distributing money to 121 countries.On Jan. 30, the Fund issued a strongly-worded press release in which it condemned the �slow progress� and �challenges in management� of three AIDS organizations that were its main recipients in Ukraine.Those three organizations were the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, a government-created charity called the Ukrainian Fund to Fight HIV Infection and AIDS, and the United Nations Development Programme in Kyiv.Jon Liden, spokesperson for the Fund, said that it was a lack of visible progress by the groups which prompted the Global Fund to suspend payments.�We want to see results on the ground, and to achieve the targets set for our grants,� Liden told the Post from Geneva. �If we don�t see those results coming, we will take action to make sure we get back on track.�The action they took was to stop all further cash transfers. Additionally, the Fund asked that all unspent money be returned.Liden denied that the Fund suspected that the grants were stolen or embezzled. He said the three organizations were simply working too slowly.�We attach no conditions to our grants, but we do demand that they are used effectively to achieve results on the ground,� said Liden. �We move fast; we have disbursed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to programs in one year. Yet we are not afraid to take corrective action if we discover that our money is not being spent fast enough to save lives, as agreed in the grant agreements.�A total of $25 million was to be handed out to the three groups over two years. So far, $7.5 million has been handed over, of which $740,000 has been spent. The remainder is to be returned. All three groups� ledgers are monitored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.The suspension of the funds will last until the Global Fund finds a new organization to handle disbursement of its money. Liden told the Post that they are in the �final stages� of choosing a new organization to handle these responsibilities, but would not yet say who.Helen Petrozzola, speaking for the UN Development Programme in Kyiv, said that the suspension will hurt the people it�s meant to help most � infected Ukrainians and Ukrainians most at risk of becoming infected.�What I think is most serious is that the projects that have already started will be stopped,� said Petrozzola. �Prevention work is strongest when it stays regular, and is not interrupted.�The UNDP�s main beneficiaries of aid monies were �high-risk� groups, namely intravenous drug users, sex-trade workers and soldiers. Some HIV- and AIDS-infected people in these groups had already begun extensive drug programs to stave off development of the disease, said Petrozzola, who was concerned that if the treatment were suddenly stopped, the virus could become even more resistant to medications.She also wondered whether the relationships that were built between her organization and the targeted groups � which are often on the periphery of society � would be lost.�We had to build up trust between us and these groups. And now that trust will have to be rebuilt.�Petrozzola said that the UNDP, which has so far received almost $500,000 out of a pledged total of $2 million, knew that changes were afoot a while ago, but didn�t find out about them for certain until Feb. 2.�We expected there would be some sort of change,� said Petrozzola. �[The Global Fund] made it quite clear they weren�t satisfied with the pace of changes in Ukraine.�She said that the UNDP �might be� left out entirely when the Fund chooses a new recipient group, but added that they would be more than happy to step in if invited to continue the work they had already started.The Global Fund, founded in 2001, is a partnership between various public and private institutions. The concept behind it � that money from rich countries can flow freely to poor ones to fight AIDS � emerged from a G8 meeting in Okinawa in 2000. It was supported by the United Nations.The group�s funding comes from various governmental and private sources, including companies and individuals. It has attracted $4.7 billion in donations through 2008. Liden said the Fund�s largest donors are France, Italy, the European Union and the United States.The UN estimates that almost half a million Ukrainians are HIV positive, about one percent of the adult population. This number, it claims, is increasing every year.