Germany unblocks part of Global Fund donation

[July 05, 2011]  BERLIN (AP) -- Germany is unblocking half of the funding it withheld from a multibillion-dollar fund that fights three killer diseases following revelations of corruption earlier this year.

Development Aid Ministry spokesman Sebastian Lesch says Berlin has decided to release euro100 million ($145 million) of the euro200 million ($290 million) that it originally pledged for 2011 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The money was blocked amid a donor backlash in January.

Lesch said Monday that Berlin wants to ensure that aid can be released but used in a "corruption-free" way.

Germany is stipulating that its money be used in countries where the fund tasks international organizations, such as the U.N. Development Program, with delivering aid.

[Associated Press]

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