SRH and HIV/AIDS Linkages at Policies, Programmes and Service ...

Court responded to the petition byissuing a directive to the GoN to ensurethat all individuals have the right to liveaccording to their own identity andto correct those discriminatory lawsthat violate the constitutional rightsof LGBTI individuals. Identifyingall SGMs as “natural persons” underthe law, the Supreme Court orderedthe government of Nepal to reformall legislative provisions referringexclusively to men and women only andinclude the Third Gender. Furthermore,the decision ordered the issuing of legaldocuments, including citizenship cardsand passports with an identity categoryfor Third Gender, and confirmed theright to same-sex marriage underNepal’s legal framework.This was a major breakthrough in theprocess of rights recognition for sexualminorities in Nepal. Throughout theentire process, the BDS obtainedsupport from human rights activists,lawyers and civil society leaders.Most of the respondents expressed theneed for orientation and training onlinkage and integration between SRHand HIV, proposal writing, advocacy,monitoring and evaluation, and others.So far, no training on linkages has beenoffered.B. Funding and BudgetarySupportIn 2007, Nepal received US$22,681,199for HIV and AIDS-related initiativesand spent US$ 17,661,653 on activitiessupporting these initiatives. Overall, theabsorption rate was almost 80 per cent.Of the total spending for HIV-relatedactivities in 2007, US$8,187,202 (46per cent) was spent on a preventionprogramme, and US$2,936,452 (17per cent) on care and treatment relatedactivities. Over 28 per cent (US$5million) was spent on programmemanagement and administration. Moreinformation and analysis is necessaryto be able to detail expenditure onprogramme management in the contextof strengthening the national spendingcapacity for programme interventions.Partners committed about US$33million for the two-year period 2006-2008 (about US$17 million a year)compared to the US$64 millionbudget of the National Action Plan(2006- 2008). Some US$17.5 millionwas actually spent, indicating a fairlyconsistent pattern of commitment andactual spending. However, this spendingis only 50 per cent of total requirementaccording to the National Action Plan2006-2008.Spending for the six major strategiccomponents of the programme wasless than budgeted. On the other hand,spending for advocacy and policyreform was much higher than whatwas planned. Of the total spending ofUS$17,661,653 for HIV and AIDSin 2007, 67 per cent was financed bybilateral donors, followed by multilateralsources including the Global Fund(GF) at 24 per cent. Governmentfinancing for the programme was 3per cent. International not-for-profitsources, mainly international NGOs,used about 6 per cent of total spending.Different financing sources seem tohave their specific functional focus,but all sources have consistently spenthighest on prevention, programmemanagement, and administration.77