Fraud allegations hit Bono s donations to Global Fund charity

By Film Industry Network Staff / 5 comments

Bono s Global fight against Aids faces a major setback after the Global Fund has been accused of corruption.

While Bono s charitable efforts to improve the lives of millions around the world are some of the most far reaching and respected, the Global Fund faces scrutiny for a loophole in excess of $30 million in its accounts.

Bono s project RED Charity is one of the major donors to the Global Fund to combat Aids and HIV but now it would appear that fraudlent receipts and accounting practices have been uncovered.

Countries like Sweden and Germany have suspended funding towards the Global Charity until an audit can be made of the remaining funds set to be totally around $10 billion.

Global Fund in the media

Corruption allegations have surfaced and the media have reported on various aspects of the funding crisis that is now facing an international backlash.

The Journal

NBC Los Angeles

Independent

What do you think?

  • KIRUDEF [Kibaale Rur

    We are a community based organization (CBO)found in Uganda, Kibaale District doing the work of helping people living with HIV/AIDS

    There are 15 groups of them, because we had to cluster them in groups for quick action when we are executing our work.

    1.How can we access partners to help us to continue with our activities

    2.Lack of enough resources has limited the number.

    3.Can your organization advice us what to do.

    Thanks

  • Global Fund Fan

    Christopher Wright’s article on the Global Fund is absolutely irresponsible and inaccurate. Don’t you journalist ever do your homework.

    The Global Fund was NEVER accused of corruption. The Fund conducts regular audits on its grants in country, and where abuses are discovered, it is reported to the Global Fund Board and is published on its website. Last year, it reported 34million in funds lost as a result of fraud in certain African countries as a result of fraud conducted by those governments.

    Please understand that people’s lives are a stake with this kind of nonsense. 6 million Africans are receiving HIV treatment because of the Global Fund. These people would all be dead were it not for the Global Fund. So, the next time you spread stories that could destroy an entity whose agenda is to Save Lives, you should at least know what you’re talking about.

  • Regg

    Kaiser says Bono is a fraud.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjNUYvDK99E&fe…

  • Angela Prout

    I work at (RED) and we wanted to make sure that you have all the facts.

    The fraud outlined in this article did not involve (RED) money. (RED)-funded grants represent the best performing programs within the Global Fund’s extensive portfolio of AIDS grants in Africa.

    And the Global Fund has some of the most stringent monitoring and accountability standards in the world. It was the Global Fund’s own Inspector General who uncovered the findings and when they did they took immediate action to recover misappropriated funds and to prevent future misuse of grant money. Note that these incidents of fraud represent only a tiny amount of the money in the more than 145 countries in which the Global Fund works.

    Fraud and corruption is sickening, but it’s even more appalling when it is a matter of life and death. We are grateful for the Global Fund’s commitment to saving lives while rooting out these issues and dealing with them quickly so the more important work can continue.

    To date, programs supported by The Global Fund have saved 6.5 million lives through providing AIDS treatment for 3 million people, anti-tuberculosis treatment for 7.7 million people and the distribution of 160 million insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of malaria. You can read the Global Fund’s response to these recent articles in the comment above and on their website at http://www.theglobalfund.org. They are also accepting comments and questions on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/globalfund

  • http://www.theglobalfund.org The Global Fund

    How the Global Fund protects its grant money

    ——————————————————————————–

    Two articles published by the Associated Press in recent days and picked up by a large number of media outlets have seriously misrepresented the extent of fraud discovered in grants financed by the Global Fund.

    Media reports alleging that “billions of dollars have been misappropriated from the Global Fund” or that the extent of fraud uncovered is “massive” are irresponsible, false and misleading.

    To date, the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General has undertaken audits or investigations in 33 of the 145 countries where the Global Fund has grants. As a result of this, the total amount of misappropriated or unsubstantiated funds that the Global Fund is demanding to be returned at present is $34 million. While all fraud is unacceptable and the Global Fund is taking strong and firm action to recover such losses, one should keep in mind that this amount represents 0.3 per cent of the total amount of $13 billion disbursed to countries by the Global Fund so far.

    In short, the vast majority of Global Fund resources are delivering tremendous progress in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria and saving millions of lives through the hard work of thousands of hard-working, honest health workers around the world.

    Some media reports have also stated that the controls in place to monitor flows of Global Fund financing to countries are non-existent or inadequate. These reports are false and misleading.

    Global Fund grants are subject to a rigorous system of financial controls. All grant spending is verified by an independent agency which is required to report at least annually (and in many cases quarterly) on grant progress. All grant progress reports are posted online.

    In addition to these controls, the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General provides an additional independent layer of oversight and scrutiny to uncover wrong-doing.

    The Global Fund is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and has acted upon each instance of misuse of its resources by taking strong and swift action, by suspending grants, freezing cash disbursements and by demanding a return of misused funds.

    In addition, its Board has put in place a long-term plan to ensure that the Global Fund remains fully capable of detecting and preventing fraud and corruption.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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