Organisations implementing the Global Fund Round Five
in Nigeria have come together to consider the performance of the programme. At its 5th Principal Recipients and Sub-Recipients Retreat that held at the Hill Station Hotel, Jos from Wednesday 16th – Saturday 19th December 2009, the Programme’s coordinators tabled facts and figures to the effect that the objectives set for the programme is getting realised progressively.
Participants at the retreat including representatives from the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), Principal Recipients (PRs) and Sub-Recipients (SRs) discussed issues pertaining to the programme's implementation in an open and relaxed environment. The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Society for Family Health (SFH) and the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), principal recipients for different objectives under the Global Fund Round Five addressed strategies, outcomes and challenges to prosecuting their different mandates.
The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) saddled with objectives for HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support services scale-up (objective 1), private sector workplace programme implementation (objective 5) and capacity building for implementing institutions (objective 6) has multiple SRs for the different objectives. Family Health International (FHI), Hygeia Foundation and the National AIDS and STIs Control Programme (FMoH) are SRs for objective 1. For objective 2, Federal Ministry of Labour, Society for Family Health (SFH) and the Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NiBUCAA) while NACA implements objective 6.
NACA has been rated A1 in the successful management and implementation of the Global Fund Round 5 Project for Phase 1. However, the cut from the Global Fund of USD18M lead to scaling down of the programme and the initial delay in the disbursement of funds almost ground the programme to a halt at the commencement of Phase 2.
Objective 2, expansion of HIV testing and Counselling (HCT) services, is managed by Society for Family Health (SFH) with a number of SRs including Family Health International (FHI), Planned Parenthood Federation (PPFN), Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, Gede Foundation, CHAN-Medi-Pharm and IDA Foundation. Objective 2 targets have been surpassed on all indicators. For quarter 11 of the project, cumulatively 916,902 persons have completed the counselling and testing process as against the target of 650,021 people. The challenge has been the low morale of staff at the testing centres.
The Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) is responsible for the involvement of communities, civil society and PLWHAs in treatment and care (objective 3) as well as Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) care and support services (objective 4). The programme’s SRs are Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMWA&SD).
Some of the success stories from the community and OVC programme engagement are the reactivation of Brass Comprehensive Site in Rivers States, reunion of estranged widow in Umuoba Town in Anambra State, rescue of “Baby I Go Better” from OVC project in Bayelsa State and strengthening of child headed families by OVC project via vocational trainings and provision of equipment.
The retreat concluded with a Programme Coordination Committee (PCC) meeting which holds periodically to co-ordinate the various activities undertaken under the Global Fund Round 5 programme.
