October 10, 2019

Rwanda Pledges $2.5m To Global Fund But Needs $ 210m From Same Body

Moïse Kimenyi October 10, 2019

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Health Minister Dr Diane Gashumba speaking on Lyon, France at the Global Fund conference

Health Minister Dr Diane Gashumba announced Thursday in France that Rwanda will make its own pledge to the $14b needed by the Global Fund.

The world agency dealing with HIV/Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, is holding its Sixth Replenishment Conference in Lyon, France 9-10 October, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

President Paul Kagame had been scheduled to attend the conference, which among other issues on agenda has to find $ 14billion to fund its activities in the next five years.

Rwandan international citizen Dr Donald Kaberuka was named May as board chair for the Global Fund, – putting him at the forefront of efforts to search for the needed billions.

A record for the #GlobalFund : USD14 billion raised today.Evidence multilateralism is much alive. Many worked hard for this outcome starting with the host @EmmanuelMacron for real dynamic leadership.@BillGates @_AfricanUnion @ONECampaign.Partners and Friends of the @GlobalFund.
— Donald Kaberuka (@DonaldKaberuka) October 10, 2019

Speaking Thursday, Dr Gashumba, on behalf of Kagame said Rwanda was putting $2.5m (Rwf 2.2billion).

However, despite this pledge, Rwanda needs $210 million for different projects.

According to a report of the Global Fund Auditor General issued on February 25, that amount is the total of the “active grants” or individual projects which are ongoing.

These consist of a HIV grant totaling US$154.46 million, a malaria grant totaling US$41.46 million and a tuberculosis grant totaling US$14.15 million. These moneys are disbursed in instalments

This amount pays for different things including ARV medication for HIV patients, mosquito nets and directly funding government health systems.

In 2018, 227,896 people estimated to be living with HIV in Rwanda. Of these 92.3% are on anti-retrovirals. AIDS related deaths fell from 9,600 in 2007 to 3,100 in 2017.

The Auditor General’s report also shows that the Global Fund has invested about US$1.4 billion in Rwanda since 2003.

How money from the global body is used by Government is rated by the Auditor General, an independent oversight body, as “exceeding expectations” for HIV grants, while the TB and malaria grants, as meeting the “agreed expectations”.

As a result of this performance compared to other countries, Rwanda has its own unique system through which it receives Global Fund money.

“Due to its successful track record in tackling the three diseases and its strong systems and controls, the Global Fund has implemented a different financing approach in Rwanda called National Strategy Financing,” says the Auditor General.

It means that money goes directly to Rwanda’s Finance Ministry, which manages the cash. Government also only submits a final report, instead of regular progress reports.

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