ANCS appointed Global Fund Principal Recipient for civil society in Senegal
27 March 2006
Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA (ANCS), the Alliance’s linking organisation in Senegal, has signed a contract for $2.9 million with the Global Fund to act as the principal recipient of the civil society component of the Global Fund contract in Senegal for 2.5 years. ANCS will be responsible for disbursing onward grants to community-based organisations in Senegal.
“The network of HIV/AIDS civil society organisations is viewing the announcement as an achievement not just for ANCS but for civil society in Senegal,” said Baba Goumbala, the Alliance's head of Africa team and founding Executive Director of ANCS from 1995–2005, “and they appreciate ANCS’s transparent approach.”
Following the announcement, ANCS had organised a consultation meeting with the network of HIV/AIDS civil society organisations in Senegal to decide on the criteria for sub-granting and to confirm the next steps. In addition, during the selection process, ANCS had organised frequent debriefing meetings to keep partners informed, and to collect feedback.
“This participatory process has built the confidence of the network members and there’s a sense of collective responsibility to succeed with the proposal,” Baba confirmed.
Senegal decided to divide the Global Fund grant into two parts, with government taking responsibility for work related to treatment and government ministries and sectors, and civil society being responsible for work among its own sector.
Senegal had faced a threatened withdrawal of the Global Fund grant. People affected by HIV/AIDS in Senegal did not have access to the full range of prevention, care, support and treatment interventions that they needed. And populations key to the epidemic, such as men who have sex with men, sex workers, and other marginalised groups, were not included in programme implementation.
Intermediary recipients of international funding, who are often governments, can face challenges in effectively distributing resources to non-governmental and community based organisations, as they often lack the capacity and infrastructure to work effectively with civil society. Multiple small-scale proposals can be challenging to process and distribute, especially where relationships with groups that are key to the epidemic are lacking.
