Bypassing World Bank fund to provide forest aid for Guyana

Finnish Development Minister Heidi Hautala (Greens) is in an open battle with the Finance Ministry over next year’s aid budget. Hautala is pushing for Finland to hold to earlier commitments to increase aid.

The Danish government has presented a budget for 2012 that will cause a further drop in the country’s level of foreign aid. The Global Fund takes one of the toughest hits, facing a cut of DKK 30 million due to doubts about its control systems for avoiding corruption. This might all change if the current government loses the election scheduled for mid-September.

The internal auditor of the vaccine alliance GAVI Cees Klumper is focusing his efforts on cash grants which, he says, have the highest risk of corruption. Currently, GAVI cash grants in five African countries are affected by concerns about misuse of funds.

Finland, the only like-minded donor that maintains an embassy and an aid programme in Nicaragua, is re-thinking this relationship.

A report commissioned by the British government on global forest climate aid points to slow disbursement of donor funds. It warns of the risks of channelling new forest aid through multilateral agencies.

The chief of Transparency International Uganda says foreign companies can be a role model in fighting corruption if they are committed to follow through.