In Geneva, on 12–13 February 2026, the Global Fund Board held a meeting of major consequence: through a handful of decisions, it set in place in the financial architecture of Grant Cycle 8 (GC8) for 2026–2028 - how much funding will actually be available, and what space will be set aside for Catalytic Investments, intended to address blind spots that country allocations do not adequately cover. The formalities were handled without surprise: The agenda was adopted and the rapporteur appointed. The Board then moved straight to the substance.

Catalytic Investments: priorities endorsed… under political strain

The Board approved the priorities for Catalytic Investments for GC8. Yet the decision already reflects a clear discomfort: some priorities are acknowledged as important, while being explicitly labelled as “unfunded” due to limited fiscal space. In other words, collective ambition once again outpaces the reality of available resources.

The other discomfort emanates from the lack of unanimity for a board that emphasises consensus. According to sources who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the discussions, the United States did not approve the Catalytic Investments. This is not surprising, because these catalytic investments fund some activities that the current US administration frowns upon: advocacy efforts for key populations often labelled human rights interventions. Other elements of the Global Fund catalytic investments appear less controversial: regional responses, market shaping and innovation.

A pivotal figure: US$10.780 billion for allocation- and what it means

On the financial side, the Board approved US$10.780 billion as Sources of Funds for the 2026–2028 Allocation - an amount derived from aggregation and adjustments (the announced outcome of the Eighth Replenishment, expected unused funds, projected operating expenses, and adjustments linked to restricted financial contributions).

Within this framework, it approved US$0.260 billion for Catalytic Investments for 2026–2028.

Finally, to “maximize impact” and better calibrate country envelopes, the Board requested that an additional US$0.263 billion be included in the amount used to determine country allocations under the Allocation Methodology: US$10.520 billion as the baseline, bringing the figure used to set envelopes to US$10.783 billion.