THE GLOBAL FUND PUBLISHED REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS TO SELECT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS

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Download PDF The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria published six requests for proposals (RFPs) to select technical assistance providers for its Community, Rights, and Gender (CRG) program. The program supports civil society and community organizations in meaningfully engaging with the Global Fund, during the grant’s lifecycle. The technical assistance providers will deliver short- and long-term capacity building…

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The suppliers will support the Community, Rights, and Gender program for the next three years

ABSTRACT The Global Fund Secretariat published six requests for proposals to select technical assistance providers for its Community, Rights, and Gender program for the next three years.

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria published six requests for proposals (RFPs) to select technical assistance providers for its Community, Rights, and Gender (CRG) program. The program supports civil society and community organizations in meaningfully engaging with the Global Fund, during the grant’s lifecycle. The technical assistance providers will deliver short- and long-term capacity building for different communities and those working with key populations receiving Global Fund grants.

The period of performance is three years: 1 January 2021 – 31 December 2023. Technical assistance suppliers should indicate their ability to deploy consultants who speak English, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, or any of the required local languages. Countries where the technical assistance will be provided are listed in the respective RFPs.

The RFPs are listed on the Global Fund website under business opportunities.

Short-term and peer-to-peer technical assistance

The RFP TGF-20-054 aims to “select civil society and community organizations, including consortia, to provide short-term peer-to-peer technical assistance.” The deadline for application is 14 September 2020.  

The technical assistance tasks fall under five areas: situational analysis and needs assessments, engagement in country dialogue, program design, oversight and monitoring, and sustainability and transition strategies.

The RFP noted that selected providers would be on the pre-qualified list of technical assistance providers, however being on this list did not guarantee that they would be selected for any work.

Technical Assistance Service Providers for Community-led Monitoring

The RFP TGF- 20-066 aims to select technical assistance providers for Community-led Monitoring (CLM). The deadline for the application is 7 September 2020. Also, the selected providers may be asked to provide CLM medium- or longer-term technical assistance in 2022, depending on the needs and context. Six to eight countries included CLM interventions in their Global Fund grants for the 2020-2022 cycle and may require this assistance.

Long-term capacity strengthening of the three diseases networks and organizations

The RFP TGF-20-065 will select HIV key population networks, organizations or consortia. The TGF-20-063 will either select up to five TB community-based networks or organizations, or a single consortium. Lastly, the TGF-20-060 will select a single community-based network, an organization of malaria advocates, or a consortium. The deadline for application for all three diseases is 7 September 2020.

All three RFPs have the same three objectives with regard to key populations, communities and civil society organizations:

• amplify their participation and voice
• strengthen their influence in the development and costing of strategic plans
• empower them to generate and use data to monitor quality service delivery and national commitments.

Activities in these RFPs are divided into three tracks:

• facilitating information and communication exchange
• strengthening the capacity of the community and their CCM representatives to engage in HIV-related health policy and programming
• directly funding support.

A fourth track is optional and concerns the support for CCM evolution.

The HIV RFP lists 23 countries where activities focusing on HIV key populations will occur. Key populations targeted for support in the HIV RFP are people who live with HIV, men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs, and young key populations.

The RFP for TB divides countries into two tiers. The Tier One Region comprises nine priority countries in southern and East Africa, eight in Asia and the Pacific, and five in West and Central Africa. The priority countries in the Tier Two Region are Ukraine and countries covered by the TB multicountry grants in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The RFP for malaria suppliers should be able to provide capacity building services mainly in the Africa Sahel-5 countries and in other high impact countries, and countries with high disease burdens, including Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

Regional Platform for Coordination and Communication

The RFP TGF-20-064 aims to select civil society and community organizations to host a “Regional Platform for Coordination and Communication” for HIV, TB and malaria as well as community systems strengthening. The regions are Asia-Pacific, anglophone Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, francophone Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East and North Africa. The RFP listed nine activities and five key performance indicators related to coordination and communication. For example, the first activity is to “regularly update mappings and listservs of regional and national civil society organizations, community groups and networks”. The deadline for application is 7 September 2020.

Technical assistance providers are important elements in the Global Fund model. The Global Fund Secretariat stated that it selects the providers in a transparent manner.