U.S. Suspends Part of Health Aid to Uganda Over 'Jail the Gays' Law

[hrmjustin]

SUNNIVIE BRYDUM MARCH 14 2014 2:20 PM ET

More than two weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S. was beginning an "internal review of our relationship with the Government of Uganda" in response to the East African nation's passage of its "Jail the Gays" law, the Obama administration confirmed the first aid cuts have been made, according to Reuters.

"As a result of this review process, a portion of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's cooperative agreement with the Ministry of Health has been put on hold pending this review," an unidentified "senior U.S. government official" told Reuters.

Although the official did not specify a dollar amount, a spokeswoman for Uganda's health ministry said the financial hold would affect 50 of its workers and confirmed that Ugandan health ministry officials had been told they would no longer be able to access a portion of funds used to buy antiretroviral drugs and HIV testing kits, reports Reuters.

The hold on at least a portion of the $3.9 million in aid from the CDC to Uganda's health ministry directly contradicts the latest guidelines from Ugandan LGBT activists, who warned against general aid cuts as well as cuts to programs that would negatively affect the already marginalized LGBT community and the fight against HIV and AIDS.

http://www.advocate.com/world/2014/03/14/us-suspends-part-health-aid-uganda-over-jail-gays-law

[theHandpuppet]

1. I have to say I really don't understand this response

I do understand that with the witch-hunting paranoia created by these hateful laws, too many people will be afraid to even get tested for HIV lest they be suspected of being LGBT. But I just don't understand cutting funding for these programs. Is this really the appropriate response to this crisis? Perhaps someone else here can explain the logic to me because I'm just not getting it.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. You and I are in the same boat.

Yes, I want the US to respond to the hate laws, but is withholding medical treatments the way to go? Unless the money can used in other ways and they aren't trusting it will be used properly, then I could get behind cutting funds.

[theHandpuppet]

3. Well this is interesting...

... check out that third paragraph.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm
U.S. Assistance to Uganda

The United States is Uganda’s largest bilateral donor. U.S. assistance enhances social and economic wellbeing throughout the country, and U.S. support improves the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ugandans. Development programs foster Ugandan-managed delivery of services and support national development priorities to build national and local capacity. More than 400,000 Ugandans receive life-saving antiretroviral treatment funded by U.S. assistance. In post-conflict northern Uganda, the United States has shifted its support from emergency humanitarian assistance to longer-term development programs that provide for reconciliation, basic services, and security.

U.S. assistance includes promoting good governance, human rights, multiparty democracy, and free and fair elections; professionalizing police and military institutions for better service delivery and adherence to human rights; addressing health threats including malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative, and HIV/AIDS through the Global Health Initiative, as well as improving maternal and child health and addressing Uganda’s fast population growth through family planning; supporting the Ugandan government's plans in agricultural productivity, food security, and nutrition through the President’s Feed the Future Initiative; and addressing environmental issues such as global climate change and biodiversity through the President’s Global Climate Change Initiative.

Since 2011, the United States has provided a small number of military advisers to the LRA-affected region to enhance the capacity of the Ugandan and other regional militaries to pursue the LRA and protect civilian populations. The United States supports the efforts of Uganda and its regional partners to bring the LRA’s top leaders to justice, promote defections from the LRA’s ranks, and assist affected communities. Over the past several years, the United States has provided significant military, development, and humanitarian resources to support this effort. As part of our comprehensive counter-LRA strategy, the United States provides assistance that empowers LRA-affected communities, expands information networks, delivers humanitarian relief, and supports vulnerable populations.

[hrmjustin]

4. I had the same reaction you did.