Alliance highlights concerns about UK global AIDS strategy to International Development Select Committee
25 November 2008
The Alliance's executive director Alvaro Bermejo gave written and oral evidence to the International Development Select Committee of the UK government on the 28 October. The hearing in the House of Commons focused on the new UK government strategy on HIV and AIDS in developing countries, and gave the Alliance the opportunity to reflect on the strategy’s strengths and areas for concern.
The select committee is made up of 11 members of parliament from the three main UK political parties, and the committee’s role is to scrutinise the work of the Department for International Development (DFID) and other UK ministries that have a responsibility for international development. Alvaro Bermejo responded to questions on the involvement of civil society in implementing the strategy and on the UK government’s shift in policy to providing budget support to national governments as a preferred approach for funding HIV programming.
While the Alliance has welcomed many of the priority areas identified in the strategy, including a strong commitment to working with civil society and the importance of working with marginalised and vulnerable groups, there are two key concerns Alvaro highlighted to the committee.
The first is that there is very little evidence about whether budget support is an effective funding mechanism for HIV programmes, especially work with civil society and key populations.
The second major concern is that there is no financial target for spending on HIV programmes in the strategy, making it difficult for the UK Government to know whether DFID is meeting its funding commitments required to deliver the priorities in the strategy.
Read the full evidence submitted by the Alliance or more about the enquiry itself on the website of the International Development Select Committee.
