The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF / Gates Foundation) has
awarded the African Union’s-NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency a
supplemental grant of US $1,489,098 to support the ongoing work of the
African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE)
Following the submission of a proposal to the Gates Foundation for a
supplemental grant for additional funding in order to expand support
to African regulators through more staff and also to align with the AU
remuneration policies, the Foundation has approved the sum of
US$1,489,098 to ABNE.
This supplemental grant therefore increases the total award in Phase
II to US$11,929,537. The grant will become accessible from January
2012.
The supplemental grant is necessary to bridge unanticipated budgetary
shortfalls in meeting programmatic activities as outlined in the
initial grant proposal. The funds will also address overstretched
budgetary allocations for ABNE activities occasioned by a steady
increase in the demand for biosafety services across the continent.
The supplemental grant is important to ensure that ABNE delivers on
its objective and milestones set forth in the initial grant proposal.
ABNE is a continent-wide initiative whose overall goal is to assist
African countries in their efforts to build functional biosafety
systems for sustainable and safe application of agricultural
biotechnology. This goal is to be achieved by empowering African
regulators with science-based biosafety information, training and
education, technical assistance and other relevant biosafety capacity
building programs.
For more information, please contact: