 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Geneva (AFP) Jan 24, 2011 The head of the Global Fund Against AIDS, TB and Malaria on Monday pledged "zero tolerance" for corruption following reports that it was dealing with cases that had prompted donor nation Sweden's concern. "The global fund has zero tolerance for corruption and actively seeks to uncover any evidence of misuse of its funds," said Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund, underlining its "most rigorous" anti fraud controls. Kazatchkine said the cases of corruption reported in the media over the weekend were not new and had already been revealed by the organisation last year on its website and acted on. They involved "grave misuse" of about 34 million dollars for projects in Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania and Zambia that had gone missing in the four African countries, he explained. Kazatchkine said his organisation had recovered 19 million dollars so far. The Fund revealed last June that it had suspended aid to Zambia awaiting action by local authorities on fraud. Kazatchkine said Monday that criminal proceedings were underway there as well as in Mali and Mauritania, but he did not mention Djibouti. A Swedish newspaper reported on Saturday that Sweden had told Kazatchkine that it would not commit to its 167 million euro contribution to the fund unless more was done to ensure that cash is not siphoned off. "Sweden did not say that it would withdraw," Kazatchkine told journalists. "On the contrary I came back Friday evening from Stockholm with the statement that Sweden would contribute and would increase its constributions to the Fund," he added. "Sweden is the example of a country to which we have supplied explanations that appeared to be satisfactory," Kazatchkine said. The UN-backed agency provides grants for selected projects against the three diseases in poor nations, allocating money provided by governments and private donors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is the largest single source of funding to tackle HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, three of the world's biggest killer diseases, in developing nations.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Global Trade News
China aluminium maker set for $2.2 billion IPOHong Kong (AFP) Jan 24, 2011 A major Chinese aluminium maker is set to raise $2.2 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering, a report said Monday, amid rising prices for the metal used to make cars and build houses. China Hongqiao Group plans to list its shares on February 11, selling 1.74 billion shares to institutional buyers at between HK$7.1 and HK$9.9 ($0.91-$1.27) per share, Dow Jones Newswires said, citing ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
