A South African high court dismissed a defamation case filed by an NGO against the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria due to a lack of jurisdiction. But the NGO says it will continue to pursue legal action against the multilateral institution until it attains “justice.”
The case dates back to 2021 when the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General, or OIG, published a report alleging conflicts of interest and collusive practices related to TB grants in Pakistan. The NGO — Interactive Research & Development, or IRD — pushed back against the allegations and filed a case against the Global Fund in a South African court.
The Global Fund challenged the court’s jurisdiction over the case, which eventually led to a dismissal in February. However, the court commented that the OIG’s findings against IRD “are demonstrably inaccurate, misleading and false.”