United Nations probes corruption link of grants money

United Nations probes corruption link of grants money

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will be introducing by June measures to detect and prevent corruption regarding grants made to and coming from The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The UNDP is in charge of The Global Fund's money in 27 countries. The agency's chief Helen Clark said her office will probe cases of corruption.

"When funds intended for lifesaving treatment and prevention are stolen, that theft is tantamount to murder," she said.

The top official of the fund vowed that they will assume a "zero tolerance" policy against corruption and fraud involving grant money.

"Programs supported by the fund have saved seven million lives and are turning back the three disease pandemics around the world," Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of The Global Fund said today.

Aside from the formation of an investigative panel, additional actions include allocating more money for the fund's office of the inspector general to hire more investigators and auditors.

Countries who are recipients of the funds will also be given more discretion over how they are spent. More financial managers and external firms will also have more say in the process of securing and disbursing grants.

Funding for training events will be monitored closer after grant money was allegedly stolen from non-existent training on Mali and Mauritania. Anti-malarial drugs were also alleged to have been stolen in many other countries in Africa.

The Global Fund gives money to governments and international organizations for health programs to combat malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Corruption allegations have prompted the fund to concentrate on how it disburses grants to benefit the intended recipients.

Posted by George Daniels on Monday February 07 2011, 3:16 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0