[procaare] US Federal Funds Restrictions - Sign Pledge First

["USA Today" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

To get federal funds, groups that fight AIDS overseas must sign pledge 
By Steve Sternberg
USA TODAY: 06/10/2005
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In a major policy shift, the Bush administration on Thursday notified
U.S.-based AIDS organizations that get taxpayer funding for work
overseas that they must pledge that they oppose prostitution and sex
trafficking.

This is the first time U.S. AIDS groups have been required to accept
such a condition in exchange for federal funds.

"What applied to foreign organizations will apply to U.S. organizations,
too," says Kent Hill, head of Global Health at the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). 

Hill says administration officials are doing what Congress required when
it passed the five-year, $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR) in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean two years ago. 

Critics say what they call the anti-prostitution "loyalty oath" may
violate their free-speech rights and hinder their work with prostitutes,
a crucial risk group. 

"It's ideological blackmail. It's like a loyalty oath," says Paul Zeitz
of the Global AIDS Alliance.

"No one endorses prostitution and sex-trafficking. We cannot stop AIDS
if we lose the trust of people most at risk of HIV infection and
undermine effective, lifesaving programs," he said.

In February, 13 charitable organizations, including Save the Children,
CARE and International Rescue Committee, relayed the same criticism to
Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias. The groups said, "Contributing
to the stigmatizing of populations that are at risk, infected or
affected by HIV/AIDS greatly undermines the success of AIDS prevention,
testing and care efforts."

The law authorizing PEPFAR formally required federally funded groups to
promise that they won't use those funds to promote prostitution, the
legalization of prostitution or sex trafficking. The law also required
foreign groups that get U.S. funds to declare opposition to
prostitution, pledging allegiance to U.S. policy.

The law was amended last year to exempt multinational groups that get
funding from the USA, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as United Nations agencies that
channel money from the USA and other donors to grass-roots AIDS
organizations.

The federal government channels about $550 million in global AIDS funds
through USAID and $488 million through PEPFAR. In 2006, the balance will
shift: $361 million will go through USAID programs and about $1.8
billion through the president's plan.

One legal expert says the pledge violates the organizations' and their
employees' constitutional right to free speech.

"It's a first amendment problem," says Ira Lupu, a professor of
constitutional law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
"You're asking (the organizations) in exchange for federal grants to
limit their activities under the grant: to sell off their rights to
engage in politically committed expression in support of other
activities." 
 
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050610/a_usaid10.art.htm