Executives of a Ghanaian association supporting individuals living with HIV and AIDS requested sexual acts and cash in return for admittance to benefits, the Global fund said late on Friday in an examination concerning the group it subsidized.
The 18-page report named “Misconduct affecting Global fund grants” details how delegates of the Ghana Network Association of People Living with HIV (NAP+) “mishandled their position of power and encouraged a culture of sexual and monetary abuse”.
Neither the allegations nor the findings have recently been made public.
“Different NAP+ heads requested that program individuals participate in sexual lead or give monetary payoffs to get to occasions and advantages upheld by grant funds, which established bad and coercive practices,” the report said.
“The Global fund administration strategy to guide and protect participants from sexual exploitation, abuse and inappropriate behavior (SEAH) is deficient,” it added.
Global fund Leader Chief Peter Sands said in a letter delivered on Friday that he was “profoundly upset” by the discoveries and that the conduct was “despicable”.
He added that the asset had “zero resistance” for sexual exploitation and abuse, adding that further activity to forestall, recognize and react to such episodes was arranged.
NAP+ Ghana, which got Global fund indirectly from partners, didn’t promptly react to demands for input. The report said the group had not reacted to its discoveries, however shared a remark on the examination from the association’s warning board.
The board said in a proclamation that everything except one of the blamed executives denied the claims and that it accepted that accused ought to have the option to question their accusers.
The Global fund is a group of governments, civil society and private partners which contributes around $4 billion every year to battle infectious diseases.
The fund’s investigators said the maltreatments, first revealed in July 2019, occurred somewhere around 2010 and 2019 and identified with exercises connected to Global fund awards.
Nine program members detailed they had been explicitly abused and additionally mishandled by NAP+ chiefs, as indicated by the Asset’s examination alongside Ghana police, which met 43 observers.
The US is the Asset’s greatest contributor and has contributed $17.6 billion to date, as indicated by the Asset’s site. Other significant contributors include Great Britain, France and Canada.
