Donor Recipient Relations

Presenters from NGOs, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank spoke on the current nature of donor-recipient relationships. Bill O'Loughlin spoke on the challenges for the HIV/AIDS response, arguing that, despite some short-term success stories in particular areas, the worldwide response to HIV/AIDS is basically flawed because of the failure to properly analyse local and national cultural understandings and practices. Many countries with failing responses had National Strategies that had remained largely unimplemented because they had been designed without consultation with cultural and religious and community leaders who held the key to understanding how cultures and communities function. Helene Gayle, from the Gates Foundation, claimed the advantage of being an independent foundation was the ability to be more responsive and flexible in the choice of groups supported due to a less restrictive mandate than that given to Government organisations, particularly in the United States.

Enis Baris (World Bank), outlined both the opportunities offered via collaboration such as funding and international advocacy and some of the external and internal challenges the Bank faces in supporting HIV programs. The ability of the Bank to lend to many sectors in particular countries, and its deep human resource base can shape and encourage HIV related work in may different sectors, including supporting multi-sectoral programs - lending to multiple stakeholders of the kind involved in developing strategic plans for HIV. Perhaps the most critical comparative advantage of the Development Banks is their access to Ministries of Finance that can be key in shaping the domestic agendas of countries, especially if long-term sustainability can only be guaranteed from reallocation towards HIV of domestic public finance. Sharuna Verghis, (CARAM), Malaysia argued that loans were adding to the financial burden already felt by two countries in the region - India and Bangladesh, prompting out migration from these countries in search of work, destabilising communities and increasing vulnerabilities to HIV in the name of funding the solution. Speaking on behalf of Asian NGOs, she directly addressed the nature of the donor recipient relationship. With passion she pointed to the difficulties some groups faced with the proposal development, monitoring and evaluation styles often required by funders - citing high tech with financial reports in Excel when sex workers who perhaps are implementing the programs will normally not have an office to operate from, and questioned the stance often taken by funders to only support program costs, not core costs, thereby limiting the ability of NGOs to develop capacity the capacity required of them to actually negotiate the funding maze.