The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) was initiated in the year 2002 in response to the challenge of AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria especially in the developing countries, leading to huge economic loss, social disintegration and political instability. An independent organisation with a Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, it is governed by an international Board with representatives from donor and recipient governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector (including businesses and philanthropic foundations) and affected communities. The representatives of the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS and the World Bank also participate in the Global Fund in ex-officio capacity.
The Global Fund aims to attract and disburse additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria with a new approach to international health financing. It is based on the partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities, and works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organisations, supporting their work through substantially increased funding. It has a performance-based approach to grant-making and is designed to ensure that funds are used efficiently to scale-up the proven the interventions.
Key Global Fund Structures:
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Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM): The CCM is envisaged as a country-level partnership which is multi-sectoral and has broad representation from government, civil society organisations, the private sector, donors, UN agencies and representative of communities living with each of the diseases. Its responsibility is to identify priorities, develop and submit grant proposals to the Global Fund, monitor their implementation and coordinate with other donors and domestic programmes.
- Technical Review Panel (TRP): The TRP is an independent panel comprising experts from disease-specific and cross-cutting health and development areas, which is responsible for the rigorous review of the technical merit of applications to Global Fund. The TRP recommends to the Board that proposals be funded without condition, approved conditionally, resubmitted or not approved.
- Principal Recipient (PR): A PR is a local entity nominated by the CCM and confirmed by the Global Fund to be legally responsible for grant proceeds and implementation in a recipient country. Periodic disbursement of funds to the PR is based on the achievement of measurable results. There may be multiple public and/or private PRs in a country.
- Local Fund Agent (LFA): The LFA is an independent organisation contracted by the Global Fund Secretariat which assesses a PR’s capacity to administer funds and provides ongoing oversight and verification of grantee-reported data on financial and programmatic progress.
The above-mentioned Global Fund structures are involved in the process of approval and administering of grant awards by the Global Fund. Through the CCM, the governments, civil society organisations and partners prepare proposals for local HIV, TB and/or malaria programmes. The TRP, then, will review the eligible proposals submitted to the Global Fund for technical merit. They will recommend proposals to be considered by the Global Fund Board and approved, based on available funds. The LFA, appointed by the Global Fund Secretariat in different countries, will assess the capacity and systems of the PR that has been nominated by the CCM. The Secretariat negotiates a two-year grant agreement with the PR, after which the PR receives its first disbursement and the PR in turn makes disbursements to local implementing organisations. The PR periodically requests additional disbursements from the Secretariat, based on evidence of progress achieved, verified by the LFA. Based on the verified disbursement requests, the Secretariat instructs the World Bank (as trustee) to make disbursements throughout the two-year period. This flow of funds is linked to continued progress. The overall two-year programme performance is evaluated by the Global Fund to determine whether to renew grants through to their full term (typically 5 years in total), depending on availability of funds. And if the grant is approved for continued funding, the Secretariat negotiates a grant agreement to cover the remaining years of the grant lifespan .