Lagos — Over the years, Africa has been under the treat of HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis and malaria. However, in as much as there are genuine efforts by governments, non-governmental organisations and donor agencies to step up the battle against the three pandemics, there is need for synergy among the stakeholders on sourcing and appropriate channeling of funds. A summit towards achieving these objectives was held in Accra, Ghana recently.

Physically challenged James Mhango works with a community based organisation known as Young Women Christian Association in Blantyre, Malawi. The organisation aims at providing services to the women at grassroots level in the urban and rural areas. These are disadvantaged women who many of them live in poor conditions and ravaged by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Mhango was one of the participants at the grassroots capacity building for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), organised by Friends of the Global Fund Africa (Friends Africa) in Accra, Ghana. He said some of the funds his organisation gets from donors are channeled towards taking care of disadvantaged women and girls, especially those infected with HIV/AIDS. They are empowered by sponsoring them to school when they are abandoned by families as well as assist them in meeting the drugs needs.

"Apart from this assistance, we provide them with food and clothing, especially those displaced by natural or man made disasters. But in all these, fund has been our major problem. With a summit like this, I am now better educated on how to apply for grants from donors. This summit has offered me the opportunity to meet face to face some of these donor organisations like the Packard Foundation, DFID amongst others," Mhango said. He stressed the need for Friends Africa to hold the summit annually so as to enable other NGOs to gain from the knowledge.

Another participant, Dr. Ezeanochie Okorochukwu of C'fine and consultant at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, described the summit in Ghana as very rewarding and also called for its annual convocation. He said the summit has become an eye-opener and a big opportunity for him to interact with other organisations from other countries which do similar jobs. He said his organisation has done a lot in Abia State in the area of malaria control and education.

"We educate the public on malaria prevention, control and treatment. Our recent survey in the state indicated that there is reduction in the death of children resulting from malaria in the hospitals. There is the need to keep our environment clean as well as the necessity to use the mosquito treated nets. But we need funds to be able to achieve more hence one has to appreciate the relevance of this summit in Ghana," Okorochukwu told THISDAY at the pool side of La Palm Hotel, Accra.

About 60 out of 450 non-governmental organisations across Africa who applied, as well as donor agencies were at the three-day summit organised by Friends Africa, African Council of AIDS Service Organisations (AfriCASO) and sponsored by Afrinvest, Access Bank Plc and the United Nations Foundation.

Declaring the summit open, Ghanaian Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, disclosed that AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria kill about six million men, women and children each year, which comes to 16,000 people each day. He said that the three pandemics have hit Africa the hardest with close to 70 per cent of world wide infections and over 75 per cent of all AIDS related deaths in 2007 taking place in sub-Sahara Africa. In addition, the Ghanaian Vice President said that about 60 per cent of the cases of malaria worldwide and more than 80 per cent of malaria deaths also occur in the sub-Sahara Africa.

The region, according to Mahama also accounts for the 30 per cent of new cases of tuberculosis worldwide. He said these three diseases are devastating the continent's human resources thereby taking heavy toll on Africa's most vulnerable people. "But we all recognise that AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are preventable and treatable.

"While steady progress is being made, we are still considerably beneath the mark. The momentum is gaining grounds and must be sustained from administration to administration. We owe this to ourselves and our children because there is no Africa with Africans," he added.

Mahama who represented President John Kuffour, said in order to achieve the goal of universal access and achieve the millennium development goals by 2015, there is need to significantly scale up responses to the challenges posed by the three pandemics. He said that African government must therefore prioritise increased health spending. As an African, "I am especially proud of this important initiative and the lives that will be saved by the efforts of Friends Africa, AfriCASO and our 60 exceptional grassroots organisations."

He said there is need to bear in mind that bulk of resources to fighting the three pandemics should be channeled to Africa, adding that the prevalence of diseases in various African countries today plays a large role in perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty and reduction in life expectancy.

The mandate of saving lives, Mahama emphasised is a very huge one, which Africans need to demonstrate to donor agencies and beneficiaries that "we are accountable and achieving results for Africa's well-being is hanging in the balance and we can not fail. I also call on Africa's business community to engage in the business of saving lives. They need to do this because they should use their resources support healthier bodies and minds, the most important factors of production.

"You will agree with me that grassroots development is the bedrock of national development. It is the summation of small successful ventures that feed into national success stories. This is why there is an increasing interest by the Global Fund and other donors to work directly with actual implementers. To do this successfully however, there is a need to increase local retentive capacity, ownership, leadership as well as plan for sustainability," he added.

Adding her voice to the issue, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Mrs. Elizabeth Mataka said Africa's success in fighting HIV, tuberculosis and malaria is essential because the continent is the epicenter of the worldwide epidemic and needs to fight these three diseases to keep their people healthy in order to fight its way out of poverty. An effective response to these diseases is vital to the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs), she added.

Although MDG (6) specifically addresses the AIDS epidemic, Mataka explained that the attainment of this goal will support the achievement of the MDGs one, which addresses eradicating poverty and hunger. "But we know that AIDS deepens household poverty and undermines other sectors which drive economic development such as agriculture. The same can be said for millennium development goals three, four and five," the UN envoy added.

Mataka who also runs an NGO on HIV/AIDS in her home country, Zambia informed that the scale of the epidemic in Africa therefore demands that the engagement of all stakeholders should be strengthened. She said grassroots organisations are critical to the success of the response, but their effective and sustainable contribution requires capacity building in all components of project implementation.

She also noted that grassroots organisations need assistance in being good stewards of the funding they receive as well as the need to understand the elements of good programming, which does not only include what kinds of services are delivered, but also proper budgeting, procurement processes, monitoring and evaluation as well as good governance. These things, she said are essential to initially attract and maintain funding and be able to sustain programmes on an ongoing basis.

Welcoming the participants, the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Friends Africa, Dr. Akudo Anyanwu-Ikemba recalled that there have been a surge of civil society organisations in Africa in the last 10 years. She said that this development presents a unique opportunity to grow and build solid and effective indigenous institutions in Africa that can support government.

Ironically, she said that a lot of focus has been on building organisations that operate at the national level but those that operate at the grassroots level close to the communities where most Africans live, are gaining increasing importance and relevance. If their capacity to deliver is increased, they can make a big difference, Anyanwu-Ikemba said the outcome of this special initiative is for participating organisations to scale up their activities through increased funding that will only come with competitive proposals and satisfactory implementation of existing projects.

According her "the response to our call for NGO nominations was remarkable and far-reaching with close to four hundred eligible submissions received from 32 African nations. The seminar was aimed to build their capacity to raise funds and implement programs amongst them that have roots on the ground and actually reach the people". A six-month support period will follow the seminar to track participants' progress towards desired outcomes.

The Friends Africa boss explained that in her organisation's fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, recognises the importance of these NGOs as strategic on the ground resources for delivering key services. This is clearly demonstrated by its policies in dual track financing which requires the involvement of civil society in grant management.

She re-emphasised that the three pandemics her organisation is battling to eradicate in the continent claim nearly six million lives each year across the world or 16,000 lives daily. Africa, she added, bears the highest burden of these diseases and the organisations closest to where the suffering is are the grassroots organisations.

"The organisations seated before us are the champion of this renewed action to combat such diseases and address those factors that predisposed us to them. These diseases have devastated our homes and communities for much too long. Without the passionate interventions of players such as these, which very often go unrecognised, Africa would be left much more vulnerable to attack," she stressed. She added that Friends Africa will continue to target every sector that can aid in overcoming these killer diseases including government, civil society and the private sector, all of whom are well represented at the occasion.

The Director-General of Ghana AIDS Commission, Prof. S.A Amoa in a contribution said despite the significant achievements being made globally on HIV/AIDS, the world experiences 7,000 new infections every single day while 6,000 people die daily from the epidemic. According to him, an estimated 33.2 million worldwide were living with HIV as at December 2007. He further disclosed that AIDS is the leading cause of deaths in Africa and it is eroding the development gains made to date.

"Generally, there is feminisation of the epidemic, with an increasing rate of infection among women in comparison to men. We know also that the number of people newly infected with HIV has far out-spaced those beginning ARV treatment. For every two people who begin ARV treatment, five new people are infected. As at December 2007, about three million people of whom two million were in Africa receiving ARV treatment," Amoa said.

He said that the HIV/AIDs pandemic is no more a wholly health issue, but as both public health as well as a multi-dimensional developmental issue. To address this therefore requires not only strengthening of public health systems, but also the establishment of efficient management systems and equipping NGOs' managers with the requisite managerial knowledge and skills for implementation of programmes under the national response.

"Managers of the national response in Africa, particularly leadership of grassroots organisations need skills for analysing the HIV and AIDS situations in their respective countries, for understanding of source of new infections, and for effective planning, monitoring and evaluation of interventions for addressing the epidemic. They need to understand the modalities of programme funding from various sources and how to collaborate effectively with donors.

"Of equal importance is also training in interpersonal skills and human relations. Working with multiple stakeholders with different interests, high-quality interpersonal skills are required of the programme manager. It is my hope, that, this programme will equip participants with these skills to enable them relate effectively with the stakeholders in the fight against HIV and AIDS in our respective countries," the professor of medicine stated.

Amoa reminded the participants that achieving the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010 is only two years away. To this end, not only do we need political leadership, but effective managerial leadership and action as well from our civil society organisations. "We expect that this programme will sharpen the managerial leadership skills of grassroots organisations and equip them with the necessary confidence for effective management of their organisations towards meeting the goals and objectives of our national responses," he said.

For Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, head, Global Partnerships, the Global Fund, the summit on grassroots capacity building for NGOs is a turning point in the fight against the three pandemics. "I am very impressed for various reasons. It's one of the few conferences that is addressing grassroots capacity building of NGOs in Africa to enable them engage with the challenges of development in their areas," he said. He explained that the exceptionality of the three pandemics requires attacks from every stakeholder in other to eradicate them in the African continent.