Journalism of Courage
Gates Foundation funds: NGOs not worried,saw it coming; say funding source will change
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announcement to stop funding HIV projects in India will end the annual flow of over Rs 1 crore to NGOs in Pune. Although it seems abrupt,the NGOs had seen it coming and a couple them say they had stopped taking funds from the Foundation. Several say the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) would now be hardpressed to fund programmes.
It was made clear to us right from the beginning that funding would stop by 2012. They have been funding the project under Avahan and have been following NACO guidelines since last year. Projects already on would continue. 2012 onwards,NACO would have to chip in with funds for further projects,which might be lesser than what a foreign agency can give, said Tejaswini Sevekari of Saheli,an NGO working for sex workers in Budhwar Peth.
Samapathik Trust that works with the men having sex with men (MSM) community in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad had been receiving Rs 15 lakh for its project in Pune and Rs 10 lakh for its project in Pimpri-Chinchwad from the Foundation every year for the past three years. Bindumadhav Khire,president of the Trust,said,We were told funds would not be forever and would be withdrawn in February 2012. It is not that funds would stop,but the source would change. Depending on an independent evaluation by the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS),NGOs with a good performance record would be funded by MSACS. Khire added.
Seema Waghmode,director,Kayakalp,working for female sex workers in Budhwar Peth,said they had been getting Rs 12 lakh every year. NACO and MSACS must take onus of these projects, she said.
We would not like to comment. We have stopped taking funding from them, said Meena Kurlekar of Vanchit Vikas,when asked about the decision.
Avahan,launched in 2003,has been funding about seven-eight NGOs in the city, four working for women sex workers and three for MSM groups. With an annual funding of Rs 14-16 lakh per NGO,city NGOs have been receiving around Rs 1.2 crore a year,percolating to over 3,500 sex workers and others. Until last year,there were two agencies through which NGOs received funds,the MSACS,a government agency and Pathfinder. Last year,the government decided only one agency should exist in one district and that is how Pathfinder was finalised for Pune. I would say the announcement is a blessing in disguise because being funded by a foreign agency shifts the core focus. Rather than focusing on the community,the ideal target group,they are more data-driven and target-oriented without actually having core understanding of the community here, said one of the directors of an NGO.
Rajeev Kumar,director,Community Outreach,Pathfinder,refused to comment.
