The Fund's Technical Review Panel (TRP) has completed its assessment of Round 6 proposals, and has recommended that the board approve 85 proposals costing $949 million over the first two years.  This represents 43% of eligible proposals, up from 31% in Round 5. The list of which particular proposals have been recommended for approval is confidential, and will not be made known until the board makes its decisions at its meeting in Guatemala City from 31 October to 3 November.  In the past, the board has always approved all proposals recommended by the TRP, which is an independent committee of some 26 technical experts from around the world, none of whom are employees or board members of the Fund. At present, only about $650 million is available for Round 6 grants.  There is therefore an anticipated "Round 6 shortfall" of about $300 million ($949 m. minus $650 m.). Unless substantial new pledges are received during the rest of this month, the board is expected to immediately approve proposals worth $650 m., and to declare that it plans to approve the remaining $300 m.-worth of proposals after adequate new pledges are received in 2006 or 2007. "This robust demand for new resources show that countries both need and can absorb substantial additional resources to fight the three pandemics," said Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Fund. "Through Round 6, the donors are being presented with high-quality programs which will save thousands of lives and build a global response to these three pandemics. Donor countries must respond to this challenge by pledging sufficient additional resources so all recommended programs can be funded." The following table compares numbers of eligible proposals received and approved over the various rounds.
Table 1: Results by Round