LILONGWE (Maravi Post)–The country’s watchdog body on people living with HIV virus, Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MANET+) has expressed sadness over local organizations’ failure to meet the criteria in disbursement of the Global Fund HIV and Aids Funds saying the development will jeopardize the fight against the pandemic amid spiraling of the new infection.

Early this week, Global Fund through Action Aid as a project administrator released the list of local and international organizations working in Malawi on HIV/AIDS which shows that only three out of the initial 63 made into the disbursement beneficially and dominated by International NGOs.

According to the list, only 24 out of the initial 63 met the yardstick but after evaluation, the application came down to 17  which saw local organisations such as  Manet+, Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) and Family Planning Association of Malawi (Fpam) qualifying.

Action Aid hinted that the emphasis on the disbursement of the funding is based on number of people to be reached whose impact will contribute to 90:90:90 national strategic plan and not necessarily to see many organizations accessing the funds.

In February last year, Action Aid took over the administration of the Global Fund grants in Malawi after National Aids Commission (NAC) was stripped off its status as principal recipient of the grants following controversies in the management of funds.

In an exclusive interview with The Maravi Post, head of this year’s International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (IACM) which is slated for May 15, at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital Lilongwe, Safari Mbewe who is also Manet+ Executive Director,  expressed sadness over local organizations failure to meet Global Fund disbursement criteria saying it’s a great setback in the fight against the pandemic.

Mbewe noted that the development justified the dwindling of the resources from development partners which should be a wake up call for all the stakeholders in the fight against HIV and AIDS as the nation is still registering new infections.

“For many local organizations, failure to meet the Global Fund disbursement of HIV and AIDS funds is a worrying matter to the nation as most of them are working in the remotest areas which requires urgent resources and as such, we expect much  implications over the development.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that those that failed the test are fund abusers but it means that resources are now dwindling from these global partners as they have started using tough measures for the accessibility of the funds. This is the reasons we are calling for the renewal of their commitment towards the support in fighting against the pandemic,” said Mbewe.

With this year’s IACM theme titled, “Engage, Educate, and Empower: A call to renewed commitment towards the HIV response,” is calling upon all stakeholders to renew their commitment towards the HIV and AIDS response within an environment characterized by dwindling commitment in terms of financial and material resources.

This year’s event will move away from the usual mass rally to a more focused event where people living with HIV and stakeholders will be encouraged to express their commitment and concerns over reduced resources towards the pandemic. The organizers also say that it will be in form of solidarity walks, exhibitions and speeches that through these, those affected by the pandemic are expected to engage policy and decision makers in all institutions in the public, private and civil society and the general public for increased funding and commitment towards the national HIV and AIDS response.

The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (IACM) is a global HIV and AIDS event which is observed by governments, civil society, faith-based organizations, companies, communities and the general public. It aims at mobilizing support for those affected by the pandemic and emphasizes on the need for people living with HIV and those affected to join hands and work together in order to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS. The IACM, therefore, provides a platform for advocacy, mobilization and to remember those that have been lost due to AIDS.