Mozambique, Donors Establish Common Fund To Control HIV/AIDS

Mozambique and seven major donors on Monday established a common account and new code of conduct aimed at improving efforts to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, AIM/AllAfrica.com reports (AIM/AllAfrica.com, 4/3) The new account aims to reduce funding duplication by having donors give directly to Mozambique's National AIDS Council, which will manage the account, instead of selecting which projects to support. Under the new system, donors also will be prohibited from imposing their own consultants or priorities on the Mozambican government (AP/Dow Jones, 4/4). The donors agreed to supply aid in a manner consistent with Mozambique's financial processes and systems, as well as to reduce unnecessary procedures and undertake joint projects and visits to eliminate overlapping activities (AIM/AllAfrica.com, 4/3). The government in turn has pledged to adhere to strict accounting procedures to manage the fund, as well as to fight corruption (AP/Dow Jones, 4/4). The code of conduct aims to direct donor relations with the AIDS council and emphasizes that the country's fight against HIV/AIDS involves all sectors of society and is led by the council. Participating donors include Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Bank. Mozambique's Prime Minister Luisa Diogo, who chairs the National AIDS Council, said the country was the first to which the Global Fund has agreed to provide funding through a common account (AIM/AllAfrica.com, 4/3).