BURMA: GLOBAL FUND COMING BACK TO BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000769 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, PACOM FOR FPA; E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2017 TAGS: BM EAID PREL PGOV SUBJECT: BURMA: GLOBAL FUND COMING BACK TO BURMA REF: A. RANGOON 66 ¶B. RANGOON 207 ¶C. RANGOON 326 Classified By: Econoff Marc Porter for Reasons 1.4 (b, d) Global Fund Rates Burma Proposals Highly -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A Global Fund (GF) newsletter dated November 12 indicates that the GF Board approved all three of Burma's GF applications. The UN and NGO response in Burma has been enthusiastic. The Board rated Burma's HIV proposal as Category 1 and granted immediate approval; it rated the Malaria and Tuberculosis (TB) proposals as Category 2A. (Note: A Category 1 rating signifies approval with little or no modification requested; Category 2A approval signifies the GF Board approved the proposal in principle but made requests for minor changes to which the GOB has eight weeks to respond.) The Burma five-year funding requests were: USD 157,776,471 for HIV; USD 77,384,020 for Malaria; and USD 85,520,947 for TB. GF required Burma to trim approximately 10 percent across the board, apparently a global decision based on funding constraints. Access and Visas -- Flagging Near-Term Issues -------------- ¶2. (C) The CDA spoke November 19 with Ministry of Health (MOH) International Affairs Director General Dr. Nyo Nyo Kyaing, when the Health Minister was unavailable. CDA welcomed the return of the Global Fund, and Nyo Nyo Kyaing said MOH is excited by the news. CDA noted that, as all are well aware, GF operations will require access and monitoring by expatriate visitors -- which means visas and in-country travel approvals for USAID and other USG officials. In that context, the CDA noted fairly recent instances in which USAID health officers did not receive visas for intended visits. The CDA observed that the embassy has submitted diplomatic notes with visa requests for several upcoming health-related trips by USAID officials, with no response as yet. CDA proposed that the Embassy double-track diplomatic notes with copies to MOH for follow-up. Nyo Nyo Kyaing endorsed that idea and offered to be POC. Very Light Media Play Locally -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The local press has paid little attention to the GF's decision. Only one independent paper reported it, detailing assistance that will be received in the first year. State media have been silent on the subject. Given Senior General Than Shwe's recent characterization of Cyclone Nargis recovery efforts as a domestic success story, without mention of international assistance, this may be a time when local editors are not inclined to highlight large-scale new foreign assistance. DINGER