DOMINICAN AIDS OFFICE TELLS GLOBAL FUND IT WILL

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 006028

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G, WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC; DEPT PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: DR ECON EFIN KHIV
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN AIDS OFFICE TELLS GLOBAL FUND IT WILL
MEET JAN 31 DEADLINE FOR MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS



1. Summary. Appointees of the new Dominican administration
told visiting representatives from the Global Fund for AIDS,
TB and Malaria (GFATM) that they will quickly improve
management to qualify for the first tranche of the USD 47m
grant. GFATM gave the administration until January 31. The
grant has been pending for 20 months. End summary.


2. Representatives from the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and
Malaria (GFATM),Dr. Arletty Pinel and Ricard Lacort visited
Santo Domingo the week of October 18-22. They called on a
broad array of stakeholders, including NGOs, donors
(including USAID),the Ministry of Health AIDS and Sexually
Transmitted Infections Directorate, the Dominican private
sector, and the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the
GFATM.


3. Pinel and Lacort told USAID at the outset of their visit
of deep concern that the Presidential AIDS Council
(COPRESIDA),named Principal Beneficiary of the USD 47
million GFATM agreement, had not taken appropriate and timely
steps to qualify for the first tranche of the grant agreed 20
months earlier. A preaward audit conducted by Price
Waterhouse Coopers had identified a number of managerial
weaknesses in the four principal management areas: finance,
procurement, program, and monitoring and evaluation.


4. Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, inaugurated in
mid-August, appointed Dr. Alberto Fiallo as Executive
Director of COPRESIDA. Fiallo gave a presentation on
Wednesday evening, pointing out the deficiencies in Copresida
management capacity that he inherited and giving his
recommendations for correcting them. USAID considers that
his assessment is on target.


4. At a Friday meeting with the Country Coordinating
Mechanism Dr Fiallo reprised his presentation. Global Fund
representative Ricard Lacort responded with a matrix of the
actions that Copresida and the CCM would have to complete by
January 31, 2005, in order to remain eligible for Global Fund
resources. Lacort said that in the nearly two years since
the award was approved, Copresida has made slow and unsteady
progress in fulfilling the conditions of the preaward survey.
If Copresida and the Dominican Republic could not show
concrete progress by January 31 they would risk having the
award cancelled.

Comment


5. As a member of the CCM, USAID has been witness to the
poor quality of previous COPRESIDA management. Embassy
agrees with much of Dr. Fiallo,s assessment of Copresida,
including particularly the lack of organized information, the
absence of a monitoring and evaluation system, a low level of
community and local government participation, and an overly
centralized management and decision making process. Embassy
agrees with the Global Fund approach of setting a tight
deadline for performance. The USAID mission will support
COPRESIDA with technical assistance through contractor
FHI/Conecta. Embassy is cautiously optimistic that the
change in administration, and particularly the change of
leadership at COPRESIDA will revitalize this grant and
associated programs.
HERTELL