The World Bank (WB) move comes after protests by various NGOs working on HIV\AIDS, over the bidding process at NCASC for distribution of grants. The move will delay the assistance for work on HIV\AIDS, which was set to start from January 2011, by two months. [break]
The WB has itself committed to provide US$ 130 million for five years to help Nepal achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). It had committed US$ 4,000,000 for this year, money which was set for use through NCASC.
“The bank has taken the files for study. It will take a lot of time to study them thoroughly,” NCASC Director Krishna Kumar Rai confirmed. He acknowledged that the assistance of the bank will be delayed for a minimum of two months.
It is not certain how long the bank will take to study the files and respond to NCASC.
Amidst the uncertainty, the UK´s Department for International Development (DfID) has decided to provide assistance for two months to keep ongoing programs running. “DfID has provided US$5,000,000 to continue the ongoing programs on HIV\AIDS,” a source at the Ministry of Health said. The agency has decided to give the assistance through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which deducts around 20 percent of the amount as management expenses.
DfID had previously decided to end its five-year financial support for the program, but it has committed itself to continuing the support through a pool fund handled by the government. “Most of the NGOs would have shut down had NCASC´s selection process gone forward, as they cannot meet its requirements,” Rajiv Kaphley, chief of the National Association of People Living with HIV\AIDS (NAPN), said.
NCASC had sought applications only from NGOs which can run the program in 25 districts simultaneously, but Kaphley claimed that no NGO can run the program in 25 districts at once.
NCASC had published the bid advertisement just two days before the Dashain holidays and asked candidate NGOs to submit their proposals within 15 days.
It was also silent on programs like care and support and programs on sex workers. “People enrolling in various drug rehabilitation centers will be deprived of services if the NCASC proposal is implemented in its present form,” Kaphley said.
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