Ministry of Health has warned NGOs not to abuse Covid-19 grants

Malawi: Dr. Doreen Sanje, the Ministry of Health Global Fund and Gavi PIU Program Manager, has advised Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the country to properly use Covid-19 grants provided by the Global Fund through the Ministry of Health if the country is to combat Covid-19.

She made the remarks on Wednesday in Lilongwe, after ActionAid Malawi handed over Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and bicycles worth USD 1 million (K1 billion) to its NGO partners (sub-sub recipients).

Sanje stated that her ministry distributed grants to various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to aid in the fight against Covid-19 in the country and that the ministry is requesting that the NGOs use the grants correctly if the goal is to be met.

She said: “In 2020 the Global Fund issued a call for countries to apply for Covid-19 support; Malawi applied and was awarded about USD 109 million.”

“The Ministry of Health is the principal recipient of that money but since the support is for Malawians, the Ministry of Health is working with many other partners particularly NGOs so that they can reach out to as many Malawians as possible.”

Sanje stated that because the ministry has distributed the grant to all of the partners with whom they are collaborating, they expect the grants to be used wisely and for the intended purpose.

She went on to say that ActionAid Malawi is one of the NGOs that the Ministry of Health that has given a Covid-19 grant and that the ministry is pleased with how the organisation is using the grant.

“One of the partners which the Ministry of Health is working with is ActionAid, so ActionAid is implementing the community aspect of the Covid-19 grant and it is working together with communities and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) (the sub-sub recipients of the grant),” she said.

“The Ministry of Health sub-granted about USD 7.2 million to ActionAid and as the ministry, we are happy with how the organization is using the grant.”

Dalitso Kuphanga, ActionAid Malawi Program Manager-Covid-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM), stated that with the Ministry of Health grant, they are reaching out to people in all districts of the country with Covid-19 support through other NGOs.

Kuphanga said: “We are working with a number of structures both at district as well as at community level and we have community-based organizations, networks of people living with HIV and networks for TB volunteers.”

“These are the people that are supporting the structures that the Ministry of Health has and sub-recipients have and with these people, we are able to reach out to people in all districts of the country with our support.”

Bicycles, masks, hand washing soaps, and laptop bags are among the recent items provided by ActionAid Malawi to its NGO partners through a grant from the Global Fund administered by the Ministry of Health.

The funds will be distributed to the Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM), Manet Plus, SRHR Africa Trust (SAT), Episcope Conference of Malawi, and Creative Centre for Community Mobilization (CRECCOM).

In his remarks, SAT Country Director Robert Mangwazu Phiri expressed gratitude to ActionAid Malawi for the assistance provided by the covid-19 grant.

“We appreciate the support which we have received, as an organization we work with the communities and we need the masks, the sanitisers and the soap that the communities can really use as we are in the times of Covid-19 and the bicycles which we have also received will ease the mobility of our volunteers,” he explained.