Liberia Nets US$60m For Malaria Fight

The Government of Liberia has received a grant worth US$60 million to fight malaria here for five years. The Global Fund provided the grant to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to drastically fight against the deadly disease.

Speaking to the New Dawn, the Program Manager of Plan-Liberia, Mr. Aruna Fallah, said US$30 million of the amount is currently in the country for the first two years and half. Mr. Fallah said based on financial and performance reports, the remaining funds will be delivered in the coffers of the implementing partners, including Plan-Liberia.

“The donors are very much concerned of how the fund will be spent and that they are demanding for performance reports on a quarterly basis. In fact, the entire grant is performance-based, so we are very concentrated in total transparency and accountability,” he said.

He indicated that the Health and Social Welfare Ministry will implement about 70 percent of the grant, while Plan-Liberia will use the balance 30 percent for media activities, including public awareness campaign and distribution of mosquito nets across the country.

He said Plan-Liberia in partnership with local civil society organizations will distribute about 1.4 million mosquito nets throughout the 15 counties in two years.

Fallah further disclosed that the Government of Liberia, Plan-Liberia and Global Funds signed the grant agreement in December 2011 to enable Liberia to robustly deal with the issue of malaria and its related diseases.

He told this paper that Plan-Liberia in partnership with local organizations, including the Catholic Relief Service, Equip-Liberia and other institutions is targeting 2 million Liberians and other nationals in the coming five years in the fight against malaria.

Also speaking to this paper about the grant, Mr. David Logan of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said the money is provided quarterly and the spending of the funds is closely monitored by international auditors, who are in the country.