List of 20 “high-impact” countries revealed Lengthy checklists and paper processes to be reduced In his report to the Global Fund Board at its meeting in Geneva, General Manager (GM) Gabriel Jaramillo provided information on how grants will be managed in the new Grant Management Division. Organisation of the Grant Management Division Three departments have been established to manage grants…

Two of the four short-listed candidates must be women The Global Fund has initiated the process to recruit a new Executive Director (ED). The Fund wants the position filled by the time of the November 2012 Board meeting. The Secretariat is currently being led by General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo, who started a one-year term in February 2012. According to a…

“A silo culture had become pervasive” “Disrespect for authority and the chain of command was prevalent” Weaknesses in the performance-management system for Secretariat staff hindered the quality of the re-organisation recently undertaken, General Manager (GM) Gabriel Jaramillo said in his report to the Global Fund Board at its meeting in Geneva. “This situation left us without an objective performance-evaluation system…

On 10-11 May 2012, the Global Fund Board held its 26th meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. GFO was present, with observer status. The main decisions made at the meeting, in chronological order, were as follows. (For precise wording of what the Board agreed, see the decision points document posted at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/twentysixth. Background documentation will also, in time, be posted by the Global Fund at the same…

$1 billion available to fund new grants New funding opportunities to be launched by September 2012 The Global Fund is ready to start funding new grants again. The Fund said that it will “open new funding opportunities” in late September 2012, and that the Board will start making funding decisions no later than the end of April 2013. The decision…

Identifies $10.3 million that should be reimbursed by Ethiopia and Kenya Commends good practices in management of grants in Cuba At the end of April 2012, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released four new reports – three on audits conducted in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uzbekistan, and one on a diagnostic review conducted in Cuba. These are the first…

Editor’s note: By their very nature, audits tend to focus on what is not working well, and to devote much less space to what is working satisfactorily. This summary of the OIG audit in Ethiopia reflects that “bias.” At the end of April 2012, the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released the final report of an audit…

It has taken a long time since the Global Fund was established for civil society (CS) to gain enough influence at both global and country levels. Recent changes at the Fund’s Secretariat have, however, caused anxiety among civil society organisations (CSOs). They fear that dismantling the Fund’s CS Team will reduce the influence of CSOs at the country level in…

CSOs write to Jaramillo about their concerns The Global Fund will uphold its crucial relationship with civil society organisations (CSOs) even after the dismantling of the Civil Society (CS) Team at its Secretariat, the Director of Resource Mobilisation and Donor Relations, Christoph Benn, told GFO in a telephone interview. “Civil society engagement has made the Fund what it is today. We cannot…

Amount includes up to $616 million for the TFM Consultations will be held on how to invest the remaining $1 billion The Global Fund forecasts that $1.6 billion will be available for new grants for the period 2012-2014. The statement was made in a press release issued on the eve of the Board meeting that starts today in Geneva. In…