19 March 2021
Executives at the Ghana Network Association of People Living with HIV (NAP+), a Global Fund implementer and sub-sub-recipient of grant funds, abused their positions of power and fostered a culture of sexual and financial exploitation, demanding sex acts and money from people living with HIV as a condition of access to benefits. The grant Principal Recipient and Sub-recipient failed to cascade down the Global Fund’s then-existing Code of Conduct and ethical obligations to NAP+.
The Global Fund’s governance policy framework in relation to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH) is inadequate. The organization operates without a meaningful framework to prevent, prohibit, detect, or respond to SEAH in its programs. Mature training, education and support mechanisms are needed.
Following this case, the Global Fund has updated its codes of conduct to specifically address SEAH, with an accountability framework and implementation projected to follow in 2021.