AFRO-NETS> Feachem Says Global Fund Could Dry Up...(2)

[Peter Burgess <Profitinafrica@aol.com>]

Feachem Says Global Fund Could Dry Up...(2)
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Dear Claudio Schuftan and the AFRO-NETS community,

The performance of the GFATM was entirely predictable. The fund is a 
great idea, but it has been hijacked by the UN and ODA establishment 
so that it is now perceived as just another boondoggle of the inter-
national community. Who needs another black hole to absorb good 
money? 

Richard Feacham has responded to the criticism of accounting and ac-
countability by retaining KPMG, Crown Agents and PriceWaterhouseCoop-
ers to "monitor the fund's spending for programs in some developing 
countries". I do not have details of the engagement contract for 
these three NORTH organizations, but I am sure that the hourly rates 
to be paid to the staff of these organizations will be substantial. I 
am also sure that the methodology that these organizations will use 
will be far from the optimum from the point of view of maximising in-
formation for true accounting and accountability. The typical "audit" 
approach takes an enormous amount of useful information and then sum-
marises it into something that has rather limited incremental value 
to the public..... it legitimizes an organization's accounting with-
out providing any incremental transparency.

A organization like the GFATM that requires public trust should not 
need KPMG and the Crown Agents and PriceWaterhouseCoopers to legiti-
mize its accounting and its processes and the use of its resources... 
it should exude transparency and be in a position to celebrate its 
successes objectively.... and be able to have its celebration inde-
pendently validated.

What the GFATM really needs is a way for the success of its funding 
of programs and valuable initiatives to be put into public display by 
an INDEPENDENT group that is merely interested in publicizing the 
performance..... good and bad..... associated with the use of devel-
opment and humanitarian assistance resources in general.... and the 
GFATM funds in particular.

Under the present paradigm for oversight and management and monitor-
ing and evaluation.... the PUBLIC is never going to get to know how 
much good is done by the GFATM..... and unless the PUBLIC gets to 
know about the value that is derived from the use of GFATM re-
sources..... then the GFATM fund is doomed.

It is not too late..... but valuable time has been lost

Sincerely,

Peter Burgess
VP and CFO ATCnet
New York, USA
Tel: +1-212-772-6918 
Fax: +1-707-371-7805
mailto:profitinafrica@aol.com
mailto:hivaidsstories@aol.com
http://www.atcnet.org

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