TRP Will Be Involved in Applying the New Eligibility and Prioritisation Criteria

Author:

David Garmaise

Article Type:

Article Number: 3

ABSTRACT Starting in Round 11, the Technical Review Panel will be doing more than just assessing the technical merit of proposals. The TRP will also determine whether applicants are compliant with some of the new eligibility criteria and with all of the counterpart financing requirements. In addition, the TRP will be responsible for ranking proposals recommended for funding in the targeted pool.

Panel will also assess whether applicants have met the new counterpart financing requirements

The TRP’s terms of reference have been revised

The role of the Technical Review Panel (TRP) has been enhanced as a result of the Global Fund’s decision to adopt new eligibility criteria, counterpart financing requirements and prioritisation criteria.

In addition to reviewing the technical merit of proposals, as it has always done, starting in Round 11 the TRP will also determine whether applicants are compliant with some of the new eligibility criteria – specifically, the recent funding criterion and the proposal focus criterion – and with all of the counterpart financing requirements. In addition, the TRP will be responsible for ranking proposals recommended for funding in the targeted pool. (In Round 11, there are two pools of funding – general and targeted.) This ranking will be used should the prioritisation criteria need to be invoked – i.e., if there is not enough money in the targeted pool to pay for all proposals that the TRP recommends for funding. It is not yet known what criteria the TRP will use to rank proposals in the targeted pool.

These new responsibilities are reflected in the revised terms of reference (ToR) for the TRP recently posted on the Global Fund website.

According to the revised ToR, if the TRP determines that a proposal is not compliant with the eligibility criteria on recent funding and proposal focus, or with the counterpart financing requirements, “the TRP shall reject the proposal on this basis” and explain the reasons for its determination. If, on the other hand, the TRP determines that a proposal is only partially compliant with these criteria and requirements, the TRP may recommend the proposal for funding conditional upon additional evidence or adjustments being provided during the TRP clarifications process.

The ToR state that when the TRP reviews the technical merit of proposals, it will focus on four “technical criteria”: soundness of approach; feasibility; potential for sustainability and impact; and value for money. Each criterion will have equal weight. The criteria are described in detail in an attachment to the ToR.

As before, the TRP has the authority to recommend approval of a rounds-based proposal conditional upon the removal of a limited set of elements. The removal of these elements is not subject to appeal.

The ToR also authorise the TRP to make decisions on “reprogramming requests” referred to it by the Global Fund Secretariat. These are requests for reprogramming of a grant that, in the judgment of the Secretariat, constitute a significant change to the programme outlined in the original proposal. These decisions do not have to be approved by the Board.

In addition, the ToR state that the TRP shall review requests for additional financial commitments categorised as “Go Accelerate” and “Revised Request” by the Grant Renewals Panel at the time of periodic review, and shall make recommendations to the Board. “Go Accelerate” requests involve requests for additional funding to expand successful programmes in order to reach more people. “Revised Requests” (called “Revised Go” in the past) refer to grants where significant changes in implementation arrangements have been proposed.

For “Go Accelerate” requests, the TRP can recommend that they be approved or not approved. For “Revised Requests,” the TRP can recommend “Go,” “Conditional Go” or “No Go.”

The revised ToR for the TRP can be found on the Global Fund website here. The new eligibility criteria, counterpart financing requirements and prioritisation criteria can be found on the Global Fund website here. See GFO article on the new criteria and requirements here. In an operational policy note on periodic reviews which it issued recently, the Global Fund said that the use of the “Go Accelerate” category is pending further Board discussion. See next article.