Now that Myanmar will be given Global Fund grants (again) ... if you don't already subscribe to Global Fund Observer then this is the time to start.
[him] moderator
**********************************************
GLOBAL FUND OBSERVER (GFO), an
independent newsletter about the Global Fund provided by Aidspan to over 8,000
subscribers in 170 countries.
Issue 114: 19 January 2010. (For
formatted web, Word and PDF versions of this and other issues, see
www.aidspan.org/gfo)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
CONTENTS
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
This issue of GFO is devoted
entirely to providing a list of all Aidspan guides and reports, and all GFO
articles, that were published during 2009.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Aidspan guides and reports
published during 2009
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
To access a full list of Aidspan
guides and reports, go to www.aidspan.org/guides
and www.aidspan.org/aidspanpublications. Those published during 2009 are as follows:
The Aidspan Guide on the Roles and Responsibilities of
CCMs in Grant Oversight
CCMs are only now beginning to
focus on their role in overseeing the implementation of Global Fund grants.
This guide describes what grant oversight is, and provides basic advice on how
a CCM can plan and implement oversight. It includes some real-life examples from
CCMs that have already started to do oversight. The primary target audience for
this guide is CCMs. The guide will also be of interest to principal recipients
(PRs) and large sub-recipients (SRs), as well as other stakeholders who are not
on the CCM but who have an interest in the functioning of the CCM.
This guide is available at www.aidspan.org/guides in English,
French, Spanish and Russian.
A Beginner's Guide to the Global Fund
The purpose of this guide is to
provide a broad introduction to the Global Fund for people who have little or
no prior experience of the Fund – ranging from new CCM members, to
NGOs, to government officials, to new sub-recipients, to journalists who have
to write about the Fund. This guide comes in three versions: the full guide
(about 60 pages); an eight-page summary, and a two-page summary.
All three versions of this guide
are available at www.aidspan.org/guides
in English, French, Spanish and Russian.
Key Strengths of Round 8 Proposals to the Global Fund
The purpose of this report is to
provide information to Global Fund applicants on key attributes of a strong
proposal. The report is based on an analysis of the strengths of all approved
Round 8 proposals, as identified by the Technical Review Panel (TRP) when it
reviewed the proposals.
This report is available at www.aidspan.org/aidspanpublications
in English, French, Spanish and Russian.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + +
GFO
articles published during 2009
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + +
To
access all Global Fund Observer articles published since 2002, go to
www.aidspan.org/gfo. Those published
during 2009 are as follows, in reverse date order. Links are provided to
downloadable versions of complete issues, and to individual articles.
GFO Issue 113: 18
December 2009
1. NEWS: Global
Fund Nervously Agrees to Use Same PR in Uganda, Despite Problems
A
review by the Global Fund's Inspector General of the Fund's grants to Uganda,
four years after the Fund temporarily suspended five grants due to financial
mismanagement, has concluded that the Fund should continue to use the same PR,
despite the Inspector General's unease over the ability of the PR to
effectively use and protect Global Fund investments in Uganda.
2. NEWS: Global
Fund Addresses Risks of Treatment Disruptions
The Global Fund is taking
action to minimise the risk of treatment disruptions arising from interruptions
in Global Fund financing and from weaknesses in
country-level procurement and supply management systems.
3. NEWS: Elections
Held for Civil Society Representatives on India CCM
The India CCM has
organised elections to fill the eight seats on the CCM allocated to civil
society organisations. This marks the first time that CSO representatives have
been elected to the India CCM. Some CSOs expressed concerns about some parts of
the process.
4. NEWS: Global
Fund Will Soon Provide Procurement-Related Technical Assistance
Service providers for the
Global Fund's new Capacity Building Service and Supply Chain Management
Assistance (CBS/SCMA) initiative have been selected, and discussions are
underway with about ten countries that have expressed interest in strengthening
their national supply chain management system.
5. NEWS: Global
Fund Responds to the Five-Year Evaluation
The Global
Fund is planning several initiatives to address the need for better planning
and coordination of technical assistance. This information is included in the
"Management
Response to the Five-Year Evaluation," a document presented at the
Global Fund Board meeting last month.
6. NEWS: Global
Fund Releases Plan of Action on Gender Inequality
Programmes supported by
the Global Fund should ensure that they contain an analysis of needs from a
gender perspective and that they include initiatives to address these needs.
This is a core message of the Gender Equality Strategy Plan of Action
2009-1012, adopted by the Global Fund in July.
7. UPDATE:
Further Details on Changes to Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Policy
Further details are
provided regarding a Global Fund Board decision last month to modify the Fund's
Quality Assurance Policy for Pharmaceutical Products.
8. NEWS: Global
Fund on Track To Achieve Round 8 Cost-Cutting Targets
The Global Fund reports
that it is well on its way towards achieving its target of 10% "efficiency
gains" for Round 8.
9. NEWS: New Global
Fund Partnership Strategy Released
The Global Fund's new
Partnership Strategy includes an accountability framework to enable the Global
Fund and its partners to assess the effectiveness of their partnerships by
measuring the ability to deliver results on the ground.
10. NEWS:
Aidspan is Hiring New Staff and Consultants
Aidspan, publisher of Global
Fund Observer, will be hiring several Nairobi-based staff and consultants
over the next few months. The first positions have been listed at
www.aidspan.org/jobs; more will be added
in January.
GFO
Issue 112: 1 December 2009
1. NEWS: Report
Confirms Decline in the Rate of New HIV Infections
New HIV infections in
2008 were 30% lower than they were 12 years ago, acco
rding to data just
released by UNAIDS and WHO. The findings confirm a trend first observed about
two years ago.
2. NEWS: Global
Fund Reports Significant Rise in People Receiving Services
The Global Fund says that
more than 4.9 million lives have been saved by programmes supported by the
Fund, and that 3,600 deaths are averted each day.
3. NEWS: TRP
Observations Concerning Round 9
The TRP says that
proposals submitted to the Global Fund do not adequately describe what the
proposal will achieve and how progress will be measured. Also, proposals focus
too much on process and output indicators and not enough on outcome and impact
indicators.
4. NEWS: TRP
Observations on the "First Learning Wave" of NSAs
The TRP has provided a
detailed description of how the Global Fund set about inviting and evaluating
its first wave of National Strategy Applications.
GFO
Issue 111: 16 November 2009
1. NEWS: Main
Decisions Made at November Board Meeting
Details are provided
regarding all the main decisions made at the Global Fund's recent Board meeting.
2. NEWS: Global
Fund To Implement New Funding Architecture
The Global Fund Board has
decided to implement a new funding architecture in order to simplify processes
for grant implementers. The centrepiece is the concept of a "single
stream of funding" per PR per disease.
3. NEWS: Global
Fund Offers Additional Funding for CCMs
The Global Fund has
established a new "expanded funding" window for CCMs. The new
window allows a CCM to apply for more than $50,000 a year in funding providing
it submits a two-year workplan with measurable targets.
4. NEWS: Global
Fund Board Approves Proposals for Phase 1 of the "Affordable Medicines
Facility – Malaria" (AMFm) Funding Stream
The
Global Fund Board has approved 10 proposals under Phase 1 of a small innovative
new funding programme called the "Affordable Medicines Facility –
Malaria" (AMFm), which is designed to provide support for
interventions promoting and facilitating the use of artemisinin combination
therapies.
GFO Issue 110: 12
November 2009
1. NEWS: Global
Fund Board Approves Round 9 Grants Despite Financial Shortfall
Despite having relatively little funding available,
the Global Fund Board has approved 85 Round 9 grants that will cost up to $1.99
billion over the first two
years. This makes Round 9 the Fund's second largest round, after Round 8. In
addition, the Board has announced the likely date for the launch of Round 10.
2. NEWS: Round
Nine Results, by Country
Details are provided of the Board's
decision regarding each eligible Round 9 proposal.
3. NEWS: Global
Fund Board Approves NSA Grants
The Global Fund
Board has approved five grants in the "first learning wave"
of National Strategy Applications (NSAs).
4. EDITOR'S
NOTE: Further Board Decision News Forthcoming
GFO's
next issue, targeted for publication in the next few days, will provide
information on the other key decisions made at the November 9-11 Board meeting.
GFO Issue 109: 6
November 2009
1. NEWS: Global
Fund Report Reveals Lenient Interpretation by Secretariat of CCM Requirements
The Global Fund Secretariat
determined in Round 8 that all proposals received from CCMs were eligible for
consideration by the TRP, even though some of the CCMs had not complied with at
least one of the six minimum requirements that have been established by the
Global Fund Board.
2. COMMENTARY:
CCM Requirements: How Much Flexibility Is Appropriate?
"Some of the decisions
of the Global Fund's Screening Review Panel are scandalous – or at
least, they would be if it wasn't so obvious that its members are trying to do
what is 'best' in a complex world. Does the Secretariat believe that the Fund's
minimum requirements regarding CCMs are too stringent? If so, why doesn't the
Secretariat ask the Board to soften the requirements?"
3. COMMENTARY:
Pointless PowerPoints
"If I am ever granted
the job of World Dictator, my first act will be to ban the use of PowerPoint."
GFO Issue 108: 27
October 2009
1. NEWS:
Inspector General Finds Significant Deficiencies in Grants to Tanzania
An audit
conducted by the Global Fund's Inspector General on five Global Fund grants in
Tanzania has identified serious problems, particularly regarding supply chain
management and financial and programmatic reporting.
2. COMMENTARY: Round
9: Straight Talk Needed
"Senior
Global Fund officials seem to be scared to speak in clear simple terms about
things that need to be said. Next month, the Fund will have a board meeting at
which it must make difficult decisions about how to fund Round 9. Whatever
decisions it makes, it should communicate those decisions rapidly and clearly
to all applicants."
3. NEWS: Indian
CCM Modifies its Composition and Establishes Selection Processes
The
Indian CCM has made important decisions to change its size and composition and
to establish selection processes for each sector.
4. COMMENTARY: Time
for Action on Technical Assistance
"Many implementers of Global
Fund grants are still not getting the technical assistance that they need –
often because they are not requesting the TA in the first place. Accordingly,
the Global Fund ought to require that each prospective principal recipient prepares
a TA Plan prior to signing a Grant Agreement."
5. NEWS: Report
Says Funding for Key Populations in Latin America and Caribbean Is Scarce
Only a small proportion of funds
for sub-recipients of Global Fund grants in Latin America and the Caribbean are
reaching organisations representing the key population groups where the HIV
epidemic is largely concentrated, according to a report prepared by the
International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
GFO Issue 107: 30
September 2009
1. NEWS: Global
Fund suspends grants to the Philippines and Mauritania
The Global Fund has temporarily
suspended five grants to the Philippines, citing unauthorized expenditure by
the PR, and one grant to Mauritania, citing fraud. These are the Fund's first
grant suspensions since it suspended grants to Chad three years ago and Uganda
four years ago.
2. COMMENTARY:
Full Disclosure Works
"Anyone who imagines
that the Global Fund could disburse billions of dollars without some of it
being mis‑used is naive. The question is not whether some of the money
will be diverted, but rather how much, and whethe
r the diversion is detected,
and what is done once it is detected."
3. NEWS: Round 9
Approved Grants Will Exceed Two Billion Dollars
The TRP has recommended that the
Global Fund Board approve Round 9 grants that, over their first two years, will
cost $2.21 billion dollars. This makes Round 9 the second largest round ever of
Global Fund grants.
4. NEWS: Rolling
Continuation Channel Suspended
The Global
Fund Board has provisionally suspended the submission of new proposals through
the rolling continuation channel (RCC).
5. NEWS: Global
Fund Introduces New System for Procurement Reporting
The Fund's Price & Quality
Reporting System is a web-based database system which tracks information about
the prices and quality of health products procured with money from the Fund. Tests
by Aidspan reveal some shortcomings.
6. ANALYSIS: CCMs
– Status, Power Dynamics and Decision-Making: A Call for Feedback
Aidspan invites feedback from GFO
readers about how decisions are made on CCMs and, more broadly, about the
authority of CCMs.
7. NEWS: Other-Language
Versions of Aidspan's Oversight Guide Issued
French, Russian and Spanish
versions of "The Aidspan Guide on the Roles and Responsibilities of
CCMs in Grant Oversight" are now available.
GFO Issue 106: 19
August 2009
Editor's Note: This issue of GFO is entirely devoted to
reporting on the results of the Global Fund's Five-Year Evaluation.
1. NEWS: Final
Reports Released on Global Fund Five-Year Evaluation
The Global Fund recently released
the results of the Health Impact Evaluation, the third and final area of study
in the Five-Year Evaluation; and the Fund also released reports synthesising
the overall evaluation findings.
2. NEWS: Health
Impact Evaluation – Major Findings
The rapid increase in funding
from all partners for the three diseases has resulted in a major expansion in
access to services in these countries and has improved coverage of
interventions, which will likely impact disease burden. However, gaps in the
availability of data prevented the evaluation from actually measuring the
impact of the Global Fund and its partners on the three diseases. These are the
major findings from the Health Impact Evaluation.
3. NEWS: Highlights
from the Synthesis Reports of the Five-Year Evaluation
The Global Fund has laid the
foundation for continued, successful scale-up. However, not all of the original
expectations of the Global Fund have been realised. Concerted effort will be
required to continue the revision and refinement of the Global Fund's
principles, systems and practices in order to increase funding for scaling up,
especially in light of the current financial environment. These are the main
conclusions of the full Five-Year Evaluation.
GFO Issue 105: 27
July 2009
1. NEWS: Aidspan
Releases "A Beginner's Guide to the Global Fund"
This new guide provides a broad
introduction to the Global Fund for people who have little or no knowledge of
the Fund.
2. EXCERPTS: From
"A Beginner's Guide to the Global Fund"
Three excerpts are provided.
3. NEWS: Demand
for Round 9 Is Significant
Proposals
submitted for Round 9 are three-quarters as large, in average dollar value, as
proposals submitted in Round 8, but still significantly larger than for any of
the first seven rounds of funding.
4. NEWS: Global
Fund Board Approves Wave 6 RCC Proposals
The Board has approved nine
proposals in Wave 6 of the Rolling Continuation Channel (RCC) funding stream,
representing costs of up to $263 million over three years.
5. ANNOUNCEMENT:
French, Spanish and Russian Versions of the Aidspan Report on Round 8 Strengths
Are Released
These versions are now available
at www.aidspan.org/publications.
GFO Issue 104: 7
May 2009
1. NEWS: Main
Decisions Made at May Board Meeting
All key decisions made at the
just-completed Global Fund board meeting are summarized.
2. COMMENTARY:
A Board in Search of a Chair
"No Global Fund board
meeting would be complete without there being at least one issue involving high
drama. This time, the drama arose over the inability of the board to elect a
new Chair."
3. NEWS AND
ANALYSIS: Several CCMs Have Established Their Own Websites
At least 11 CCMs have established
their own websites, and at least two others are in the process of doing so.
4. NEWS: Report
Finds that Organisations of Key Populations in LAC Have Little Access to Global
Fund Money
Although the HIV epidemic in
Latin America and the Caribbean is largely concentrated among men who have sex
with men and sex workers, organisations representing these "key
populations" receive very little of the Global Fund money being spent
in the region, according to a recent study.
GFO Issue 103: 17
April 2009
1. NEWS: Ugandan
Government Official Jailed for Ten Years for Stealing Global Fund Money
A Ugandan government official who
set up a company in 2005 to serve as a Global Fund Sub-Recipient has been
sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing $56,000 of Global Fund money and
for producing forged documentation as to how the money was used. Further
convictions are expected.
2. NEWS:
Aidspan Releases Guide on the CCM's Role in Grant Oversight
Aidspan has released "The
Aidspan Guide on the Roles and Responsibilities of CCMs in Grant Oversight."
Its purpose is to provide guidance on how CCMs can plan and implement oversight
of programmes funded by Global Fund grants.
3. EXCERPTS:
Three Excerpts from Aidspan's Guide on the CCM's Role in Grant Oversight
Three excerpts are provided from "The
Aidspan Guide on the Roles and Responsibilities of CCMs in Grant Oversight."
4. NEWS: Global
Fund Board Approves Wave 5 RCC Proposals
The Global Fund Board has approved
six proposals in Wave 5 of the Rolling Continuation Channel (RCC) funding
channel, representing costs of up to $322 million over three years. The RCC is
a separate channel of funding set up to allow applicants with strongly
performing grants to apply for continuing funding for up to an additional six
years beyond the original proposal term.
5. NEWS: Strengths
and Weaknesses of Wave 5 RCC Proposals
In its report to the Global Fund
Board on the results of Wave 5 of the Rolling Continuation Channel, the TRP
identified the key strengths and weakness of the proposals submitted.
GFO Issue 102: 25
March 2
009
1. NEWS: Global
Fund Launches "First Learning Wave" of National Strategy
Applications
The Global Fund Secretariat has
invited 22 CCMs to take part in the "first learning wave" of
national strategy applications (NSAs). NSAs are a new way to apply for Global
Fund money; they involve submitting a national disease strategy as the primary
basis of the application for Global Fund financing.
2. NEWS: Aidspan
Releases Report To Help Round 9 Applicants Learn from Best Round 8 Proposals
Aidspan has released a new report
on "Key Strengths of Round 8 Proposals to the Global Fund."
The purpose of the report is to inform Global Fund Round 9 applicants about
what were the key attributes of strong Round 8 proposals.
3. NEWS: Global
Fund Needs $4 Billion To Address Needs Through 2010, Says Kazatchkine
The Global Fund needs an
additional $4 billion to address its budget needs through 2010, Executive
Director Michel Kazatchkine said last week ahead of a meeting the Fund will
hold with donors at the end of this month.
4. NEWS: Global
Fund Is Urged To Be More Open with Its Policies Regarding PRs
A group of five large PRs has
recommended that the Global Fund share with all PRs a clear summary of its
internal policies that affect PRs.
5. NEWS: Global
Fund Seeks To Add Members with Gender Expertise to the TRP
The Global Fund is planning to
appoint five new TRP members who have expertise on gender and on issues faced
by sexual minorities.
6. NEWS:
Kazatchkine and Other Health Leaders Dispel AIDS Myths
Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund, has
co-authored an article in the Lancet that examines, nearly thirty years
into the AIDS epidemic, "what we – the
international community – got right, what we got wrong, and why we
need to urgently dispel several emerging myths about the epidemic and the
global response to it."
7. EXCERPTS:
Three Excerpts from Aidspan's Report on Strengths of Round 8 Proposals
Three excerpts are provided from
the new Aidspan report on "Key Strengths of Round 8 Proposals."
+ +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
END
OF NEWSLETTER
+ +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
This
is an issue of the GLOBAL FUND OBSERVER (GFO) Newsletter.
GFO is an independent source of
news, analysis and commentary about the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria (www.theglobalfund.org). GFO is emailed to over 8,000 subscribers in 170
countries at least twelve times per year.
GFO is a free service of Aidspan (www.aidspan.org), a
Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund, and
that provides services that can benefit all countries wishing to obtain
and make effective use of Global Fund financing. Aidspan finances its work
primarily through grants from foundations.
Aidspan does not accept Global Fund money, perform paid
consulting work, or charge for any of its products.
The Board and staff of the Fund have no influence on and bear no responsibility
for the content of GFO or of any other Aidspan publication.
GFO is currently provided in
English only. It is hoped to provide it later in additional languages.
GFO Editor and Aidspan Executive
Director: Bernard Rivers (rivers@aidspan.org, +254-20-445-4321)
Reproduction of articles in the
Newsletter is permitted if the following is stated: "Reproduced from
the Global Fund Observer Newsletter (www.aidspan.org/gfo), a service of Aidspan."
To stop receiving GFO, send an
email to
stop-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org
Subject line and text can be left
blank.
To receive GFO (if you haven't
already subscribed), send an email to
receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org
Subject line and text can be left
blank. (You will receive one to two issues per month.)
For GFO background information and
previous issues, see www.aidspan.org/gfo
For information on all approved
proposals submitted to the Global Fund, see www.aidspan.org/grants.
People interested in writing
articles for GFO are invited to email the editor, above.
Copyright (c) 2010 Aidspan. All
rights reserved.
