The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund

The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) is a multi-donor fund of $100 million for the poorest and most vulnerable people in Myanmar. It is aligned to the National Medium-term Priority Framework (NMTPF) and to the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) for the Delta areas.

LIFT is governed by a donor consortium including Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the European Commission (EC), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the governments of Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

UNOPS is the fund manager of LIFT, providing technical and financial management. LIFT was established in October 2009 and will run for five years.

The Three Diseases Fund 

The Three Diseases Fund (3DF) a multi-donor initiative to reduce the human suffering caused by HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) in Myanmar.

Responding to this growing crisis, a consortium of donors comprising the European Commission and the Governments of Australia, the Nether-lands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom established a pooled funding mechanism to finance efforts to reduce the burden of the three diseases in Myanmar.

The Three Diseases Fund (3DF) launched in October 2006 with a total budget of $114 million over five years. Its core aim is to provide a simple and transparent instrument to finance a nationwide programme of activities to reduce the transmission of HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria, and enhance care and treatment through access to essential drugs and related services.

3DF-financed projects target those most at risk, with particular focus on people with limited or no access to public health services due to geographic or security constraints or because of discrimination based on factors such as ethnicity, gender or financial status.

UNOPS financial management services

The consortium selected UNOPS to serve as fund manager because of its comparative advantage as an independent United Nations organization able to provide financial and project management services to other agencies. Based in Yangon, the Fund Management Office comprises a team of technical and support staff who handle the day-to-day management of 3DF according to priorities set through the consortium and the Fund Board.

Achievements

In just over two years, the fund has disbursed $42 million to 23 implementing partners, making it the biggest single contributor to the fight against those three diseases in Myanmar. It achieved broad geographic coverage, reaching remote communities through diverse independent organizations, including international non-governmental organizations and their local partners, as well as five United Nations organizations: WHO, UNAIDS, and UNFPA received grants to support general disease control by the Ministry of Health, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Internal Organization for Migration received funds for specific projects.

Myanmar has an estimated 240,000 HIV cases, 75,000 of which require antiretroviral treatment. In 2008 the fund helped provide treatment to some 6,600 patients – 40 per cent of the HIV-positive population on antiretroviral treatment. The fund made possible in-country distribution of first-line tuberculosis drugs to all 325 townships, in addition to supporting the prevention, care and treatment of HIV and AIDS in 143 high-priority townships. In 134 high-priority townships, the fund assisted in the prevention, care and treatment of malaria, including financing the purchase of some 80,000 long-lasting impregnated bed nets and insecticide treatment for an additional 400,000 bed nets.