Budget cut cripples NGOs 

The decision by Government to reduce financial assistance to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has crippled those at the forefront of HIV/AIDS fight, The Patriot on Sunday has learnt. Some of the NGO’s are now struggling to roll out HIV care and support programmes to vulnerable communities after government decided to reduce financial assistance to them. 

On the other hand, Government has downplayed the issue of budget cut to NGOs, notwithstanding that others insist that their operations have been dealt a big blow. 

A non-profit oganisation- Centre for Youth of Hope (CEYOHO) that targets young people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Botswana is one of the organization that has not been spared by the recent budget cuts. CEYOHO Botswana Director, Kesego Basha-Mupeli is of the view that the budget cut has left them with skeletal staff and acute shortage of resources. 

Mupeli said they were forced to relieve some of the employees as a result of the budget cuts. “We used to cover areas such as Oodi and Gaborone but for now we are only limited to providing our services in Tlokweng. Even in Tlokweng we are unable to reach most of our customers,” said Mupeli. 

CEYOHO provides care and support to young people living with HIV/AIDS while also engaging in community mobilization and awareness creation to promote community participation and involvement in HIV testing, anti-retroviral (ARV) and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmissions (PMTCT) among others. 

Mupeli said that CEYOHO is currently struggling with resources such as transport and communication. She reiterated that currently people living with HIV are in homes and are not receiving counseling. “We are overwhelmed because there is no budget for mobilization to help those living with HIV. We are required to visit clinics where we meet clients but people don’t want to discuss their issues at health posts,” added Mupeli. 

She said that in the previous years they were able to reach people on their phones if they were unable to do physical visits. “We no longer have budget for communication and transport which makes it difficult to reach people who might need our services. People default on their ARVs and without visiting them and giving them support more people are likely to default,” added Mupeli. 

She said that with the skeletal staff that they have, the NGO’s is unable to reach many people . 

Mupeli further noted that it is difficult to reach out to communities since community health workers have been reduced following budget cuts. “The budget cut meant that we had to keep few people. With CEYOHO, the budget was reduced from P800 000 in the previous years to P200 000 which makes their operations difficult to run,” said Mupeli. 

She said that they are expected to use their own costs to reach out to communities. “We are expected to use our own cost to reach people who are defaulting.With an increase of people living with HIV defaulting I foresee a situation where we might have a challenge in ending HIV/AIDs,” added Mupeli. 

Mupeli also reiterated that Botswana middle income status is not helping the situation since funding is limited. 

Success Capital Director, Dumi Gatsha also noted that there was reduction of financial assistance extended to them compared to the past two financial years. Gatsha reiterated that the budget cut meant that the organisation which provides awareness about sexual reproductive health among key population such as sex workers and LGBTQI communities had to operate with less staff. “This means that we can’t reach out to many people as we could have expected,” added Gatsha. 

National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA) has dismissed complaints about budget cuts. NAHPA Deputy National Coordinator, Batlhalefi Leagajang said government has not made any pronouncements to its implementing partners about budget cuts. “The budget allocated for the NCDs, and HIV response has been the same for the last couple of financial years. The money has been and continues to be distributed to 120 implementing partners,” said Leagajang, adding that the HIV and NCD’s response is evidence based. “We therefore set priorities based on research findings and every year we do a targeted call for proposals based on the priorities set. Interested entities then submit proposals which are then assessed and a determination on funds allocation is made,” he added. 

He said that they continue to capacitate and avail resources to implementing partners since they have been tasked with the responsibility of having an AIDS free and healthy living generation by 2030. He said they constantly advise the implementing partners to look for alternative sources of funds and not just rely on government. “We are pleased to inform you that there are some CSOs that have been able to find other sources of funding to help them implement the HIV and NCD response,’’he added.