Global Fund in Bangladesh
In an attempt to avert generalized epidemics The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) has granted Bangladesh 187 million US$ to fight all three diseases (AIDS, TB and Malaria). To limit the spread of HIV among the vulnerable young people and Most at Risk Populations, Bangladesh has received 59.7 million US$ under two separate grants, Round-2 and Round-6, from the Global Fund.

The Government of Bangladesh, the principal Recipient of the Global Fund HIV grants, has signed an agreement with Save the Children- USA (SC-USA) as the Management Agency (MA) to manage the Projects at national scale in both rural and urban settings. SC-USA is managing the grants through facilitating the implementation by sub-recipients at the NGO, institutional, private sector and community level. The Round-2 HIV grant is from 2004-2009 and has a total budget of 19.7 million US$, while the Round-6 HIV grant is from 2007-2012 and has a total budget of 40 million US$. Both projects are intended to complement and harmonize the National Strategic Responses through Public Private Partnership efforts.

Through the collaborative efforts of Save the Children USA, the implementing NGOs and the Government of Bangladesh tremendous progress has been made, achieving 85% of the planned activities in the first two years and GFATM appreciated it and announced the project as a “best practice” in partnership model internationally. Since 2004, Save the Children has carried out critical activities including setting up an MIS database through data collection and monitoring and evaluation, conducting baseline research on key target groups, producing and disseminating behavioral change communication and advocacy materials, conducting capacity building with providers on Youth Friendly Health Services based on approved National Standards, and most notably integrating an HIV/AIDS education curriculum into the formal education system from grades 6 to 12.

A recent GFATM grant (Round 6) of US$40 million to promote prevention activities through high risk interventions for the MARP and the especially vulnerable young people is also being managed by Save the Children. This too is a 5-year project beginning this year and ending in 2012. This project primarily aims to provide essential harm reduction services for the injecting drug users (IDUs), essential services for the commercial female sex workers (FSWs), care and support for the most affected communities, information and life-skills support for the garment-industry workers and capacity building of implementing partners and Government institutions. Besides it will also build on existing activities to boost national scale-up efforts including advocacy to support the creation of an enabling environment, provision of prevention information through mass and print media, institutionalization of the education curricula through teachers training, and the establishment of the National Standards in Youth Friendly Health Service centers.

Sources: National HIV Serological Surveillance 2004-2005, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, UNAIDS 2005, UNDP

The Implementation Modality: