Religious Groups Get Chunk of AIDS Money

Last year, religious groups accounted for more than 23 percent of groups that received grants under the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. About 80 percent of all religious and secular grantees were based in the countries targeted by the aid. Most PEPFAR money goes to treatment programs. Last year, the United States provided some 560 million condoms overseas, up from 350 million in 2001.

Now PEPFAR is seeking more participants. The New Partners Initiative earmarks $200 million through budget year 2008 for community and religious groups with little or no background in government grants.

Congress has mandated that one-third of prevention funds go to advocate abstinence and fidelity. PEPFAR guidelines say any group distributing condoms must promote abstinence and fidelity. Groups that teach abstinence, however, do not have to include condom education.

Several congressional conservatives wrote President Bush and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) charging that some large grantees were pro-prostitution, pro-abortion or not committed to Bush's abstinence priorities. The letters followed a briefing last year by commentator James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Last week, in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, six congressional Democrats accused the conservatives of an inaccurate campaign contrary to a balanced fight against AIDS.

USAID is not renewing funding to CORE and IMPACT, two of the groups the conservatives complained about. For CORE, whose chief partner is CARE, the cut eliminates its main source of money. It must win grants from individual USAID missions in targeted countries if its work is to continue.

IMPACT's lead organization is Family Health International, which had involved hundreds of local and religious groups in its $441 million project. But Sheila Mitchell, senior vice president of FHI's Institute for HIV/AIDS, said the group was told the administration wants new partners.

Mark Dybul, deputy U.S. global AIDS coordinator, said any suggestion the cuts were politically motivated is "inaccurate and offensive to people doing this work." Millions of dollars in grants continue to go to groups that were criticized.

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