Mozambique and Donors Set Up New Single Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS

In an effort to streamline the fight against AIDS, Mozambique's government and seven donor partners have established a common fund and a new code of conduct. Mozambique's National AIDS Council will manage the account. Under the new system, donors will commit money to the council, rather than to individual projects, and the council will make program funding decisions. The new procedure, which seeks to reduce duplication and bureaucracy, was hailed as "an important step toward a more efficient, harmonized and coordinated response to the AIDS pandemic," UNICEF representative Leila Pakkala said at Monday's ceremony debuting the fund. Mozambique's partners in the effort are the World Bank, Sweden, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Denmark and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Prime Minister Luisa Diogo said Mozambique is the first country in which the Global Fund has committed to channeling its allocations through a common fund.

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