UK organisation supports PANCAP with US$1.2M grant
By Pauline Warurugu
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Ms. Jane Armstrong signing the Memorundum of Understanding on behalf of DFID while the Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas signed on behalf of PANCAP |
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER Dr. Denzil Douglas, Chair of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism for the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), yesterday signed a memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for a grant of £600 000 (about US$1.2 million) to PANCAP for support to its core budget until June 2009.
Dr. Douglas signed the agreement at the two-day 10th Ordinary Meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of PANCAP. The Prime Minister signed on behalf of PANCAP while Jane Armstrong signed on behalf of DFID.
“In fact, this contribution by DFID represents the first practical commitment to the principle of pooled funding that PANCAP has advocated for some time now; and we applaud DFID for this pioneering effort,” Dr. Douglas said.
The Prime Minister, on behalf of other Heads of Caribbean Government, thanked the Canadian International Development Agency, European Union, German Development Bank, The Global Fund, Inter-American Development Bank, United Kingdom Department for International Development, United States Government and the World Bank for the funding support provided through PANCAP since its birth in 2001.
He said the support was pivotal in the successful implementation of the first Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (2001-2006). “For this, the citizens of the wider Caribbean will remain forever in their collective debt,” the Prime Minister said.
He further said that a month ago, the CARICOM Secretariat, acting for and on behalf PANCAP, signed a grant agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany for three million Euros to continue a social marketing programme in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Belize and the OECS countries. “I use this opportunity to applaud the German government once again for its generous support to the regional HIV and AIDS response,” said the Prime Minister. ~~Adz:Right~~
“We are also very delighted by the recent announcement coming out of Washington, DC that 14 Caribbean nations will be added to the list of countries that will benefit from a resource-enhanced United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). As you will be aware, this is a platform that has been aggressively pursued by the Heads of Government of the region and we thank our friends and supporters in the United States Congress wholeheartedly for their decision in our favour. We now await the details of this tremendous vote of confidence for the work that is being done in the region,” he told participants at the PANCAP Meeting.
“I must also report to you that coming hard on the heels of this announcement was a publication of a funding opportunity made to PANCAP by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control in the amount of US$2.5m over the next five years. These funds will be directed towards enhancing the coordination and harmonisation of HIV and AIDS activities in the Caribbean, and we expect that the first tranche of US$500 000 will become available by August 1, 2008,” he said amidst applause.
Dr. Douglas thanked the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat and the PANCAP Coordinating Unit in advancing the regional fight against HIV and AIDS. Their commitment, he noted, has been phenomenal and “we owe then a debt of gratitude”.
Among those, who attended the Opening Ceremony were the Hon. Pablo Marin, Minister of Health , Belize; Hon. Rupert Herbert, Minister of Health , St. Kitts and Nevis; Mr. Desmond Alfred, Executive Director, Administrative and Financial Services, CARICOM Secretariat; Mr. Carl Browne, Director, PANCAP; distinguished members of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of PANCAP; officials of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit; and the CARICOM Secretariat officials of the National AIDS Response Programme of St. Kitts and Nevis.
