"Aidspan Guide to Effective Implementation of Global Fund Grants (Volume 1)" is Published

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Download PDF Aidspan, publisher of Global Fund Observer, has published its latest Guide, entitled “The Aidspan Guide to Effective Implementation of Global Fund Grants – Volume 1: From Grant Approval to Signing the Grant Agreement.” As of Monday December 12, the new Guide will be downloadable at no charge from www.aidspan.org/guides, where several previous Aidspan Guides are already available. The…

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ABSTRACT Aidspan has published its latest Guide, entitled "The Aidspan Guide to Effective Implementation of Global Fund Grants - Volume 1: From Grant Approval to Signing the Grant Agreement." This 55-page Guide has been written to help CCMs and PRs understand the complex processes that the Fund requires them to undergo before grant disbursements can begin.

Aidspan, publisher of Global Fund Observer, has published its latest Guide, entitled “The Aidspan Guide to Effective Implementation of Global Fund Grants – Volume 1: From Grant Approval to Signing the Grant Agreement.” As of Monday December 12, the new Guide will be downloadable at no charge from www.aidspan.org/guides, where several previous Aidspan Guides are already available.

The two-volume Guide is designed to help grant recipients understand the processes involved in implementing a newly approved grant, and deal with any problems that may arise during implementation, particularly concerning interactions with the Global Fund Secretariat and the Local Fund Agent. The Guide has been written primarily for Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) and Principal Recipients (PRs), because they are the major actors involved in the initial implementation process. A secondary target audience is Sub-Recipients (SRs) because they also play an important role in implementation.

Volume 1, which is 55 pages long, describes the process from the time a grant is first approved to the time the Grant Agreement is signed. A companion volume – Volume 2: From First Disbursement to Phase 2 Approval (provisional title) – will be released in the first half of 2006 and will cover the period from the first disbursement of funds to obtaining approval for the second phase of the grant.

The main sections of Volume 1 are as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction and Background

• Overview of the Global Fund
• Structure of the Global Fund
• Overview of the TRP Process

Chapter 2: Responding to TRP Clarifications

• Overview of the Process
• Preparing Responses to the TRP Clarifications
• Obtaining Technical Assistance
• Importance of Good Communications

Chapter 3: Confirmation of the PR Nomination and Selection of the LFA

Chapter 4: The PR Assessment

• Description of the PR Assessment Process
• Accessing the Four Functional Areas
  • Financial Management Systems (FMS)
  • Institutional and Programmatic (I&P) arrangements
  • Procurement and Supply Management (PSM) systems
  • Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) arrangements
• After the PR Assessment

Chapter 5: Preparing the Final Budget, Workplan and Performance Indicators

• What the Global Fund Requires
• Description of the Process
• Reviewing and Agreeing on the Targets
• Changing the Scope of the Programme

Chapter 6: Negotiating the Grant Agreement

• What the Grant Agreement Contains
• Description of the Process
• Conditions Precedent
• Exemptions from Duties, Tariffs and Taxes
• First Disbursement Preparation
• Programme Starting Date

Aidspan welcomes feedback from readers of the new Guide. Because Aidspan plans to produce second (and even third) editions of some of its Guides, feedback will enable improvements to be made in these subsequent editions. Feedback on any Guide should be sent to David Garmaise (garmaise@aidspan.org), Aidspan’s Senior Analyst and lead author of the Guides.