IRELAND OPPOSES BROADENING GLOBAL FUND ELIGIBILITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000048

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID KHIV TBIO
SUBJECT: IRELAND OPPOSES BROADENING GLOBAL FUND ELIGIBILITY
CRITERIA

REF: A. STATE 6462


B. PAMELA PEARSON E-MAIL OF 1/12/05 AND PREVIOUS

C. 1-14 EMBASSY LONDON DAILY REPORT


1. Summary: Ireland does not favor broadening Global Fund
eligibility criteria to ensure that Upper-Middle Income (UMI)
countries have access to Fund-related technical assistance
and financing. Due to the Fund's resource constraints,
Ireland supports a prioritization of assistance to countries
where epidemics are most serious, particularly in Sub-Saharan
Africa. According to Irish aid officials, UMI countries have
their own resources and access to other international funding
mechanisms to address their domestic needs. End summary.


2. On January 13, Post delivered ref A talking points and
ref B draft guideline text to Nicola Brennan, Senior
Development Specialist for HIV/AIDS in Development
Corporation Ireland (DCI, a division of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA)). Gerry O'Dwyer, DCI Consultant for
the Global Fund, and David Weakliam, DCI Health Development
Specialist, also attended the meeting. Brennan noted that
the Department of Health and Children is not engaged on the
Global Fund and defers to DFA on the subject. (O'Dwyer is a
former Secretary General of the Health Department.)

Resources Too Constrained to Widen Eligibility
-------------- -


3. Ireland does not favor broadening Global Fund eligibility
criteria to ensure that Upper-Middle Income (UMI) countries,
particularly in Eastern Europe and Latin America, have access
to Fund-related technical assistance and financing, said
Brennan. She observed that Ireland had taken this position
in view of the Fund's resource constraints, which dictated a
prioritization of assistance in favor of the poorest
countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Note: Africa
is the principal recipient of Ireland's official development
assistance (ODA),a focus that derives from a history of
Irish missionary efforts on the continent.) Brennan
explained that the Global Fund was supposed to receive USD 7
billion per year in contributions, but had not secured even
half that amount. Given this shortfall, Ireland believed
that it would be dangerous to broaden the Fund's eligibility
criteria and risk reductions in support for countries with
the highest epidemic rates and weakest health care systems.


4. Brennan noted that this position had been discussed
thoroughly within the "Point Seven Constituency," a grouping
of Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway --
countries that had taken on the Millennium Declaration
commitment to set aside 0.7 percent of GNP for ODA.
(Ireland's ODA currently stands at 0.4 percent of GNP.) She
added that Sweden, as the constituency's chair, would voice
this position in the January 18 telcon by the Global Fund
Portfolio Management and Procurement Committee (PMPC).
O'Dwyer pointed out that the Point Seven Constituency had
contributed roughly euro 175 million per year to the Fund.

UMI Countries Have Access to Alternative Resources
-------------- --------------


5. Econoff explained that a failure to address current needs
among UMI countries could lead to even more serious resource
constraints for the Global Fund if epidemics in those
countries were to reach higher levels. Brennan observed that
the Global Fund was not the only international funding
mechanism available to address epidemics. She noted that the
World Bank, for example, had given substantial funding to
Eastern Europe in recent years to combat HIV/AIDS. She also
pointed out that UMI countries could apply for Global Fund
assistance through a joint regional proposal, as eight
Caribbean countries had recently done. Weakliam added that
UMI countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, had more
domestic resources upon which to draw to address their needs,
as compared with Sub-Saharan Africa. He explained that
Ethiopia spent USD 2 per year per capita on health, whereas
UMI countries had the capacity to spend more than 100 times
that amount.


6. In reply, econoff cited UMI countries' willingness to
take on a significant level of co-financing to secure Fund
assistance. Econoff also mentioned that Ireland's position
against widening eligibility criteria could have the perverse
effect of excluding South Africa -- the country with the
largest absolute number of HIV-positive people -- from Fund
assistance if South Africa were to enter the UMI bracket this
year. Brennan responded that this scenario was a significant
concern for Ireland and might merit a review of the country
categorization methods used to determine Fund eligibility.

Comment: Suggestion for a Joint Demarche
--------------


7. Ireland's position is similar to views expressed by HMG
in ref C. Also, Brennan mentioned that Latin American and
Eastern European countries had not contacted the GOI on the
eligibility issue. Post would suggest that Department
consider a joint demarche with those countries to Ireland
(and perhaps other Point Seven Constituency members) in the
run-up to the April Global Fund Board meeting.
KENNY