FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The World Bank
News Release No. 2001/053/AFR	Media Contact: In Washington: Eric Chinje (202) 458 8418
Email: EChinje@worldbank.org
Sharon Cox (202) 473 2035
Email: SCox1@worldbank.org
www.worldbank.org/developmentnews   	

WORLD BANK APPROVES REGION-WIDE 
HIV/AIDS PROGRAM FOR AFRICA

WASHINGTON, September 12, 2000―The Board of Directors of the World Bank today approved a Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP) for Africa, representing a region-wide commitment by the institution to strengthen the response to the epidemic.  The Board agreed to commit an initial amount of US$500 million in flexible and rapid funding over the next three years, which will consist of several projects to fight the epidemic in Sub-Saharan African countries.  The funds will be committed to individual HIV/AIDS projects developed by countries, using standard IDA credit agreements.  

The MAP will support efforts to scale up national prevention, care, support, and treatment programs, and to prepare countries to cope with the unprecedented burdens they will face as the millions living with HIV today develop AIDS over the next decade.  “Last April we promised that no sensible AIDS program in Africa would want for funding,” said World Bank President James Wolfensohn.  “Today, we deliver on that promise.  We hope this program will help break the silence and inspire every country that needs help to ask for it.”  

The first two countries to benefit from the program are Ethiopia and Kenya, whose projects were approved today as part of the MAP.  These countries will receive US$59.7 million and US$50 million, respectively, in soft loans from the International Development Association (IDA).  The Bank expects many other countries to seek support under the MAP in the near future.  

“The ultimate impact of the MAP,” said Wolfensohn, “will be to avert millions of HIV infections, alleviate suffering for tens of millions, and help preserve the development prospects of entire nations. ”
 
Provided they meet simple eligibility criteria—including eligibility for IDA credits—countries in Sub-Saharan Africa should be able to draw resources quickly under the MAP to broaden the scope of their prevention, care, support and treatment programs to reduce the rate of HIV infection.  The criteria will include:

•	
Ethiopia Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Project

The US$59.7 million Ethiopia Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Project will help finance the Government’s 2000-2004 HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan.  The first year of the project will aim at expanding and accelerating existing prevention and mitigation programs and build additional planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation capacity.  The second and third years of the project will, on the basis of lessons learned, focus on mainstreaming the programs and implementation channels evaluated as most effective.
Currently, one of every 11 people living with HIV/AIDS is an Ethiopian.  Life expectancy is already falling, and the epidemic is systematically undermining the country’s efforts to reduce poverty.

Satisfactory evidence of a strategic approach to HIV/AIDS, developed in a participatory way;
•	Establishment of a high-level HIV/AIDS coordinating body, with broad representation of key stakeholders from all sectors, including people living with HIV/AIDS;
•	Government commitment to quick implementation arrangements, including channeling grant funds for HIV/AIDS activities directly to communities, civil society, and the private sector;
•	Agreement by the government to use multiple implementation agencies, especially community-based and non-governmental organizations (CBOs/NGOs).    

One of the most important features of the MAP is the participation of communities and of associations of people affected by HIV/AIDS  in the design and implementation of activities at the village level.  The program will channel resources directly to them and help finance their own local initiatives in response to the epidemic.  

The program is part of the World Bank’s commitment to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and to the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa (IPAA), of which the institution is a founding member.  The IPAA includes African governments; NGOs and other civil society organizations, including those established by people living with HIV/AIDS; bilateral and multilateral agencies; and the private sector.  The overarching goal of the IPAA is to assist nations and civil society to redirect national and international policies and resources to address the evolving HIV/AIDS epidemic and its many compelling implications. 

Kenya HIV/AIDS Disaster Response Project

Realizing the enormity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the government of Kenya has declared AIDS a national disaster and established the National AIDS Control Council in December 1999, to coordinate a multisectoral response to the crisis.  The US$50 million project will support the five priority areas of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic plan:  prevention and advocacy; treatment and support for people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS; mitigation of the socioeconomic impact; research, monitoring, and evaluation; and management and coordination.
Approximately 14 percent of all adults (15-49 years) in Kenya are infected with HIV, with the prevalence rate exceeding 20 percent in some districts.  Of particular concern is HIV prevalence among young women, with 24 percent of women ages 15-24 now infected versus four percent of men in the same age group.

	The HIV/AIDS epidemic now poses the paramount threat to development in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Nearly 25 million Africans are living with HIV/AIDS, the vast majority of them adults in the prime of their working and parenting lives.  Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than 70 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases globally, and is the only region where women living with HIV/AIDS outnumber men.  

Some 15 million people in Africa have already died of AIDS, with devastating social and economic impact.  The epidemic is costing the region close to one percent of economic growth each year, while imposing an unsustainable and mounting burden on households, firms, and the public sector. 

The Africa Region of the World Bank adopted a new strategy in 1999―Intensifying Action Against HIV/AIDS in Africa: Responding to a Development Crisis.  The region established the AIDS Campaign Team for Africa (ACTafrica) to implement the strategy.  ACTafrica, in collaboration with country teams within the Bank and IPAA, developed the MAP and is responsible for coordinating its implementation.  Apart from the countries approved today, work has already begun in several other countries. 

The new approach in Africa is part of the World Bank’s expanding global effort on HIV/AIDS.  Over the past five years, the Bank has intensified its work in all regions.  From FY1996-FY2000, the Bank committed approximately US$493 million for new HIV/AIDS components and stand-alone projects in 39 countries.  For FY2001-2003, an additional US$345 million has already been earmarked for global HIV/AIDS prevention and care.  Stand-alone HIV/AIDS projects funded by the Bank include the Second AIDS and STD Project in Brazil (US$165 million, approved in FY1999), the AIDS Prevention II Project in India (US$191 million, approved in 1999), and the Russia AIDS and TB Project (US$150 million, approved in FY2001).

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