Now that the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment has taken place with so far $14.2 billion raised out of the $18 billion estimated as needed by the Investment Case, the Global Fund will be able to determine the funding envelope for each eligible country and will issue countries with their Allocation Letters in December 2022.

In April this year, we described the results of the extensive consultants with thousands of internal and external stakeholders, including focus group discussions, interviews with Global Fund Country Teams, the Technical Review Panel (TRP) and the Technical Evaluation Reference Group (TERG) as well as the Prospective Country Evaluations (A first look at NFM4 application materials), all of which were used as the basis for funding request (FR) application material refinement and revision. However, while we were able to tell you about the lessons learnt, recommendations and the timeline for the two sets of materials, we did not yet know what changes there would be from the previous NFM3 funding cycle application materials.

At the time of writing, most of the materials have now been developed and are available (some will come later this year). This article looks at the timing of the new funding cycle’s processes and highlights what potential applicants need to know regarding changes and additions. It also notes some contradictions which will have to be ironed out at a later date.

The timeline

In July, following widespread discussion, the Global Fund launched the package of materials to support the 2023-2025 funding cycle. Application materials are aligned with the new 2023-2028 Global Fund Strategy. The timing for the new funding cycle is displayed in Figure 1 and remains the same as that shared with you earlier this year..

Figure 1. 2023-2025 Funding Cycle Timeline

Additional resources, including key annexes, information notes, the Modular Framework Handbook and frequently asked questions are also available to support FR development. Additional guidance materials, such as the Applicant Handbook and a range of technical briefs will be published in the coming months.

All application materials are and will be available in the aforementioned new section on the Global Fund website, consolidating important information and making it easier to find the right resources and understand how the funding cycle works. On the Global Fund website, you can find the following materials:

To support applicants and partners, a series of webinars will take place on new materials and expectations for the next Global Fund funding cycle. The draft schedule is below.

You can register for specific webinars here and we highly recommend that anyone who will be involved in developing a funding request, take advantage of these sessions. eLearnings covering many of these topics are also in development and will be shared on iLearn, on the Global Fund website.

Applying for funding

You’ll be familiar with the diagram in Figure 2 from the previous funding cycle, NFM3. There has been no change to key process points.

Figure 2. Global Fund funding cycle process points

Key changes for 2023-2025 cycle

All templates will be adjusted to ensure alignment with the new Strategy. All templates will also be optimized to ensure questions are clear and to reduce duplication in responses. There are three new mandatory annexes:

• Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) Gaps &Priorities;
• Funding Priorities from Civil Society  and Communities;
• Country Dialogue and Narrative.

The five application approaches are shown in Figure 3. Applicants will receive an Allocation Letter indicating an allocation amount and which application approach should be completed.

Figure 3. 2023-2025 application approaches

The Full Review is the standard approach for countries categorized as High Impact or Core portfolios unless they have been invited to apply using the Tailored for National Strategic Plans or Program Continuation approaches.

The Program Continuation is the standard approach for enabling the continued implementation of Global Fund-supported grants for the next funding cycle under a similar strategic approach and programmatic interventions as the current grants. The purpose of this FR is for applicants to provide the justification for the continuation of these grants.

The Tailored for Focused Portfolios application is the standard approach for countries categorized as Focused Portfolios. This is also the standard approach for country components receiving transition funding or using a transition workplan as the basis for the FR.

The Tailored for Transition FR is for countries that are:

• Receiving transition funding or have previously received transition funding;
• Projected to move to high income status; or
• Identified for the Tailored for Transition approach for contextual reasons.

The development of this FR should build on previous efforts to assess transition readiness and develop and implement transition workplans, as indicated in the instructions and the FR Form.

National Strategic Plans (NSPs) are national documents that follow country priorities and cycles. The Global Fund has designed the Tailored for NSPs application approach to enable applicants to draft a less detailed narrative responses within their FR and refer as much as possible to the country’s NSP and other national documents. This is particularly suitable for: (i) a country whose NSP duration overlaps with the grant duration, and (ii) if the NSP content includes most of the elements useful for the FR. If, at the time of applying, the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), in consultation with the Fund Portfolio Manager (FPM), considers that this application is not suitable (for example, if the NSP is not ready), they can revert to a different application approach (Full Review for countries categorized as High Impact and Core, or Tailored for Focused Portfolios for countries categorized as Focused).

Content areas in Funding Requests

The FR template does look quite different to the one we are used to working with in the previous cycle, NFM3. As Figure 4 shows, the template is in three sections: the Rationale, then Maximizing Impact, and it ends with Implementation. Cross-cutting areas running throughout the Funding Request cover Human Rights & Gender, Value for Money, and Opportunities for Integration.

Figure 4. Content sections in Funding Requests

What’s new?

Annexes

There are several new mandatory annexes reflecting the increased focus on civil society and communities, and three others which, while not obligatory, their inclusion is requested if the country has undertaken the relevant assessments.

Mandatory

• Funding Priorities from Civil Society & Communities Annex

• Identify community priorities during country dialogue and funding request development.
• Required for all applicants.

• Country Dialogue Narrative Annex

• Describe the process undertaken to engage a wide range of stakeholders in the country dialogue process.
• Required for all applicants.

• RSSH Gaps & Priorities Annex

• Analyze RSSH gaps and how they’ll be addressed.
• Required for all applicants.

Requested if available

• Preventing / Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (P/SEAH) Risk Assessment

• Identify and mitigate SEAH-related risks in Global Fund-financed programs.
• A SEAH Risk Assessment if one is undertaken. Ten pilot countries have been asked to submit one of these but others are encouraged to do so.

• Gender Assessment

• Measures progress towards gender equality goals.
• If available, countries are requested to submit a separate assessment per component. No standard template/format is required.

• Human Rights Assessment

• Assesses current programming to address human rights-related barriers to service delivery.
• If available, countries are requested to submit assessments for HIV, TB, and HIV/TB components. For malaria, applicants should use qualitative assessments (e.g., Malaria Matchbox).

It is interesting to note that the Global Fund’s stance on SEAH has softened since the first draft of the application materials which originally included a section for it in the FR narrative itself. Removing it and making it optional is clearly advantageous to many countries who will still not know what it is. However, as evidenced by Committee and Board discussions and several OIG reports (on misconduct in Ghana in March 2021 which led in part to the Global Fund’s Operational Framework on the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexual Harassment, and Related Abuse of Power in July 2021) which resulted in the establishment of a PSEAH Unit in the Secretariat, gender- and sexual abuse is something that the Global Fund takes extremely seriously and intends to crack down on. Countries would be sensible to undertake a PSEAH assessment for this forthcoming round if they possibly can.

The final list of what the FR package should include is:

Figure 5. 2023-2025 Application Package

Concepts and Abbreviations

As ever, there’s some new terminology/jargon that we will have to get used to. These are:

• Program Essentials: These are the standards for program design and coverage. The term is used to measure country progress towards World Health Organization-recommended normative guidance and will probably be the most important new phrase for you to take on board.
• Preventing Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH): As already discussed above. It refers to work across the grant lifecycle to prevent and respond to SEAH related risks in Global Fund-financed programs. Ten countries are piloting mandatory SEAH assessments to be included in their application package.
• Integrated People-Centered Systems for Health (IPCSH): This does not replace RSSH but is instead a normative descriptor of what RSSH should be.
• Pandemic Preparedness (PP): A subset of RSSH programming that is focused on the prevention of pandemics (i.e., not the response). It is embedded into FR forms and included within the Modular Framework.
• Gender Equality Marker (GEM): A checklist to incentivize, track and report on grant contributions to advancing gender equality. For 23-25, the GEM “score” for FRs will be assessed by the TRP.
• Funding Request Example: New guidance material to be developed by the TRP, providing concise examples of how the FR questions could be answered.

Updated TRP review criteria and FR submission dates

The TRP assesses FRs to ensure Global Fund investments are “strategically focused, technically sound, poised for sustainability and have potential for impact”. The TRP review criteria (based on the Global Fund Strategy’s objectives) and the three funding windows in 2023, with FR submission dates and 2023 TRP meetings, are:

Figure 6. TRP review criteria 2023-2025 cycle and funding windows

Current Country Portfolio Categorization

Finally, we bring you the current portfolio categorization for both country and multi-country portfolios, noting that it is due to be updated in November 2022 for the forthcoming allocation period.

Table 3. Current portfolio categorization: Country and Multi-Country