THE FIRST SSF GRANTS PASS THROUGH PERIODIC REVIEW

Author:

David Garmaise

Article Type:

Article Number: 2

ABSTRACT Two malaria grants from Bangladesh have become the first single-stream-of-funding grants to go through the periodic review process.

Two malaria grants from Bangladesh have become the first grants to go through the periodic review process. The grants are both single-stream-of-funding (SSF) grants. Under the SSF procedures, periodic reviews replace the “old” Phase 2 reviews.

The concept of SSF is that there is a single stream of funding per principal recipient (PR) per disease in a given country, and that all grants for the same disease are reviewed at the same time.

The PRs for these two grants are the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and BRAC.

Following the periodic review, both grants were recommended for renewal for the next three-year implementation period. The Global Fund Board approved the renewals (in the amount of $14.2 million for NMCP and $11.2 million for BRAC). Consistent with the new rules for grant renewals, however, the Global Fund will commit funding only for one year at a time (and only if the Fund has enough money on hand).

Periodic reviews are broader in scope than Phase 2 reviews. For one thing, the periodic review process includes a more systematic analysis of impact and outcome information and a more thorough assessment of programme-level risk. For another, new templates have been introduced for the CCM request for additional financial commitment and for the grant score card. Further, as mentioned above, all grants for the same disease are reviewed at the same time, which allows for a more holistic assessment.

The decision of the Global Fund Board was taken by electronic vote in the second week of March 2012.