Grant Life Cycle

Overview

The Global Fund operates in grant cycles which include different country processes. Throughout the cycle, country stakeholders engage in country dialogue to review progress and challenges and discuss the best ways to combat the three diseases and strengthen systems for health.

Every three years, a donor-replenishment event is held which starts a new cycle of grants. The funds raised around this event result in different sources of funding such as allocation funding, which is allocated to some eligible countries (as not all eligible countries receive an allocation).

The Global Fund then sends Allocation Letters to countries, detailing funding amounts for each disease component. This kicks off the first stage of the grant cycle: applying for funding, which includes funding request development and may also include grant-making activities.

Applying for Funding

During an inclusive country dialogue, governments, civil society, people affected by the diseases, technical partners, the private sector and other partners come together to decide how to best use the funding to reduce the impact of HIV, TB and malaria in their country and communities. The Global Fund applicant, typically the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), is responsible for selecting Principal Recipients (PRs), for prioritizing how the allocated funds can best be used to support national disease programs, and then submitting a funding request to the Global Fund.

Funding requests are reviewed by the independent Technical Review Panel to assess whether proposed grant activities are strategically focused and technically sound. Recommended funding requests proceed to grant-making.

In some cases, applicants engage in early grant-making and may submit funding requests that include grant-level detail.

All applicants are encouraged to plan the timing of their funding request and grant submissions, considering how long it will take to get to implementation readiness to ensure that all grant activities will start on time.

Grant-making

Grant-making is the process of translating country priorities into quality grants. Grants are negotiated between the Global Fund and the selected PR, in consultation with in-country stakeholders and communities. Grants are submitted by PRs for review by the Grant Approvals Committee, which recommends grants to the Board for approval.

Once grants are approved by the Board, the grant is signed by both the Global Fund and the PR, and acknowledged by the CCM. Grants need to be fully signed at least one month before the implementation period (IP) start date to ensure implementation-readiness.

Grant Implementation

The effective implementation and monitoring of grants is at the core of the Global Fund’s work to end HIV, TB and malaria as epidemics and forms the longest part of the grant cycle.

The PR implements a grant, and the CCM and Global Fund monitor implementation on an ongoing basis. The Global Fund, in coordination with Local Fund Agents and in-country partners, assesses programmatic activities through progress updates and country visits. In addition, financial activities are monitored and verified through audits.

During the Annual Funding Decisions and Disbursements process, the Global Fund determines and commits the amount of funding that will be disbursed to the grant over the following 12 months, considering implementation performance, issues and risks.

Through implementation oversight (PR Reporting), the Global Fund maintains an overview of implementation progress and works with the PR to jointly define solutions to address implementation bottlenecks.

Revisions allow the PR to adjust investments according to changing country context and other needs, ensuring that Global Fund investments are still aligned to national strategic plans and the Global Fund Strategy.

Closure

Once a Global Fund grant reaches the end of its implementation period, the closure process is triggered. When a grant with the same PR continues from one IP to the next, the IPs are reconciled. A grant needs to be closed if there is a change of PR, if a country is transitioning from Global Fund financing, or if several grants managed by the same PR are consolidated into one. During the closure process, financial commitments and obligations are addressed, remaining grant funds or recoveries are returned, program assets are accounted for, and financial reporting is submitted.