New KPI on community systems strengthening will be added for 2011

Independent review of KPI framework planned for this year

In 2010, eight out of the nineteen Global Fund key performance indicators (KPIs) due for 2010 year-end reporting either achieved or exceeded their targets, seven performed moderately, and four under-performed.

This information is contained in a report prepared by the Global Fund Secretariat for the Policy and Strategy Committee (PSC) of the Board. The Global Fund Secretariat reports twice a year on results achieved for each indicator.

There are 23 KPIs in all, but four of them were not due for reporting in 2010. The Global Fund uses KPIs to measure performance at the corporate level. Some KPIs cover performance by Global Fund grant recipients; others cover performance by the Secretariat.

Areas where the Global Fund performed well in 2010 included the following:

• continued strong performance of the grant portfolio, with 80.5% of all grants performing well (i.e., achieving 60% of targets or better), against a target of 85%; and performance against the top ten indicators at 96% of target (against a target of 90%);
• strong civil society involvement in grant implementation, with 38% of funds allocated to civil society organisations (against a target of 35%);
• substantial improvements in disbursement efficiency (see below); and
• 85% of grant performance reports published within two weeks of a disbursement (against a target of 90%), compared to 61% in 2009.

With respect to disbursements: (a) the monetary value of the disbursements reached 100% of the forecast (against a target of 90%); (b) disbursements were more evenly spread out during 2010, compared to 2009; and (c) the average speed of disbursements was 23 calendar days in 2010 (against a target of 21 days), a strong improvement over the 2009 result of 35 days.

Areas of under-performance in 2010 included the following:

• average time for grant signing remains at about 11 months (against a target of eight months);
• significant under-performance of two of the three fundraising indicators; and
• women occupying only 29% of higher-level positions in the Secretariat (against a target of 45%).

For 2011, a new KPI on community systems strengthening (CSS) has been added, bringing to 24 the total number of KPIs. The CSS KPI will involve the Fund tracking the amount of funding for CSS interventions as a percentage of total approved funding. In addition, the Fund will be monitoring the performance of CSS indicators in all grants.

The precise wording of the CSS KPI is as follows:

a. Percentage of approved funding for Community Systems Strengthening (CSS) interventions in new Rounds out of the amount of total approved funding; and

b. Overall performance of CSS indicators (average percent of targets achieved) across the entire portfolio.

Round 10 data will be used as the baseline for both sub-indicators.

The wording of several other indicators was modified.

Independent review

An independent review of the KPI framework was planned for the second quarter of 2011. The objectives of this review are (1) to assess the continued appropriateness of KPIs for monitoring the performance of the grant portfolio and of the Secretariat; (2) to make recommendations on the accuracy of the KPI data; and (3) to make recommendations on improving the KPI framework and aligning it with the Global Fund's reform agenda and strategy.

Information for this article was taken from (a) the "Report of the Finance and Audit Committee," available at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/twentythird (see Document BF/B23/6); and (b) "Performance Indicators: Mid-Year Report on Results for 2010 and Proposed Modifications for 2011," a report prepared for the Policy and Strategy Committee in October 2010. The latter report in not available on the Global Fund website.