VZCZCXRO8740
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #0300/01 0881255
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281255Z MAR 08 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8747
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE 0121
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0058
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0216
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (ADDED SIPDIS CAPTION) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/GAC AND F 
STATE ALSO FOR S/GAC- PETER MAMACOS 
STATE ALSO FOR F- CHAD WEINBERG 
ACCRA FOR USAID/WA 
CDC ATLANTA FOR DEBBIE BIRX AND GAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KHIV EAID PREL KCOR CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON LURCHING TOWARDS GLOBAL AIDS FUND 
COMPLIANCE 
 
YAOUNDE 00000300  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Seeking to address the governance flaws 
that doomed Cameroon's Round 7 application to the Global Fund 
for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria (GFATM), Cameroon's 
Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) met on March 27 to 
reform the size and composition of its membership.  Although 
the USG was not a member of the outgoing CCM, Poloff made 
numerous interventions urging the CCM membership to take 
significant, not cosmetic, steps to reform CCM governance. 
Although the meeting was dogged by many of the same problems 
that plagued Cameroon's GFATM program to date, there was 
substantial effort by the CCM Secretariat to adhere to GFATM 
guidelines.  We hope to have a larger role at the CCM table 
from now on and would welcome guidance from the Department on 
priorities for the Cameroon program.  End summary. 
¶2.  (U)  Cameroon has applied for about $150 million for six 
programs in Rounds 3 through 5, of which $130 million was 
approved and only $65 million has been disbursed, according 
to documents available on the GFATM website.  Although the 
program evaluations available from the same source portray a 
generally successful execution of these programs, health 
officials in country remain skeptical as to how well these 
resources have been used (and as to the veracity of the 
reported results).  Cameroon's round 7 application was 
rejected, we understand, in part because GFATM 
decision-makers in Geneva believed the CCM was poorly 
governed (too much Government of Cameroon (GRC) control, too 
little and ineffective representation by the non-government 
sector) and the Cameroon program had yet to properly manage 
the funds it has already received. 
 
¶3.  (U)  Poloff attended a March 27 extraordinary meeting of 
Cameroon's CCM that was convoked to reform the CCM in line 
with GFATM guidelines.  The USG is not a member of the 
current CCM, but we have been seeking to play a larger role 
in GFATM oversight for some time.  Armand Abana Elongo, an 
official in Cameroon's Presidency and the CCM President, 
announced he had invited the US Embassy to the meeting this 
week because he hoped to include the USG in a newly 
reconstituted CCM. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The CCM (only members of the current iteration were 
allowed to vote) voted to fix the new CCM at 50 members, an 
increase of 13 over the current 37.  Poloff had proposed no 
more than 20 members, emphasizing efficacy and sectorial 
representation over size, but the CCM President explained 
that the GRC needed a larger body in order to accommodate its 
numerous ministries.  The CCM then voted to fix proportional 
representation of the membership at 40% for the Government of 
Cameroon, 40% for civil society and 20% for the donor 
community.  Poloff moved to increase civil society's 
representation to 50% by reducing the donors' share to 10% 
(or 5 people), a proposal that won applause from civil 
society representatives but failed to pass. 
 
¶5.  (U)  The President set a one-week deadline for civil 
society to meet and elect its representatives, pointing out 
that the new CCM needed to meet April 4 in order to prepare 
the Round 8 submission due in Geneva this summer.  After some 
CCM members pointed out that such a rushed process could 
never be fully representational, Poloff proposed that the CCM 
make a deliberate decision not to apply for Round 8 funding, 
informing Geneva that it would prefer to improve the CCM's 
functioning and focus on grants already in process.  This 
proposal met with general disapproval from the CCM, but the 
President interjected to express his view that Cameroon had 
learned a tough lesson in being refused in 2007 and so would 
now be prepared to withhold its Round 8 submission if it was 
not sufficiently well-developed. 
 
Comment: Halting Progress, but Progress Nonetheless 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  The March 27 CCM was deeply flawed.  The 
Government of Cameroon (GRC) wielded too much power as a 
monolithic block, many members were absent (in part because 
the invitations were received only one or two days before the 
event), and the mentality was focused on applying for more 
funds rather than accounting for the funds already received. 
Nonetheless the meeting represented important progress for 
the GFATM in Cameroon.  This CCM meeting was intended to be 
more open than previous such meetings.  The CCM President and 
Permanent Secretary were clearly determined to bring the CCM 
 
YAOUNDE 00000300  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
into compliance with GFATM guidelines, and representatives of 
civil society drew heavily on CCM guidance to advance their 
arguments.  Aside from the German delegation and the US rep, 
donor participation was nil. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Contacts within the Ministry of Health told 
CDC-Cameroon Director recently that the GRC would not submit 
a Round 8 application for fear it would be refused.  If the 
GRC pushes ahead with a Round 8 submission despite continuing 
problems with the CCM's functioning and the apparently poor 
management of those funds already allocated to Cameroon, the 
USG will have to determine whether the GFATM's long-term 
interests in Cameroon are better served by denying Cameroon's 
application in Geneva yet again or by finding other ways to 
encourage further progress in governance of GFATM programs in 
Cameroon.  We hope to have a larger role at the CCM table 
from now on and would welcome guidance from the Department on 
priorities for the Cameroon program. 
NELSON