July 03, 2019 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): On behalf of the regional organisation’s Executive Secretary, the Director of the Health and Social Development Division of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Ms. Fathia A. Alwan, signed a grant agreement with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva on June 26.

UNHCR is the sub recipient for the components of the grant which will be implemented in 22 refugee camps and settlements in Djibouti, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. It is a 33-month grant with a value of about US$ 2.2 million whereby the effective date of implementation is July 2019 and end date on March 2022.

IGAD along with member states and stakeholders developed a proposal on the multi country TB interventions among refugees in Eastern Africa and submitted it to the Global Fund (GF) on 30 April 2019. The GF Technical Review Panel and Grant Approval Committee found the proposal technically sound and robust, and recommended it for funding. After which the Global Fund approved the US$ 7.5 million proposal on Multi country TB Interventions for Refugees in Eastern Africa.

IGAD and the Global Fund signed the grant agreement mid May 2019. Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affair in Ethiopia (ARRA), the Kenya Red Cross Society and UNHCR ARRA, KRCS and UNHCR will continue to be the sub recipients for the new grant. IGAD signed Principal- Sub recipient grant agreement with ARRA and KRCS and the implementation of the grant in Ethiopia and Kenya has started in April 2019.

The implementation of the first IGAD TB-HIV grant by the Global Fund ended in March 2019 with successful achievements. Along with the Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affair in Ethiopia (ARRA), the Kenya Red Cross Society and UNHCR, the grant was implemented in 49 refugee camps in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

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