Sweden Announces Pledge to the Global Fund for 2011-2013

Author:

David Garmaise

Article Number: 3

ABSTRACT Sweden announced that it will contribute two billion Swedish kronor (US$ 300 million) to the Global Fund for the period 2011-2013, an 11% increase over Sweden's contribution for the previous three-year period. Sweden's Minister for International Cooperation said that the Global Fund has made progress in managing risk and handling cases of corruption, but added that more work needs to be done.

Minister says there has been progress in managing risk and handing cases of corruption, but more work needs to be done

Pledge is 11% higher than Sweden’s previous contribution

On 18 October 2011, Sweden announced that it will contribute two billion Swedish kronor (US$ 300 million) to the Global Fund for the period 2011-2013, an 11% increase over Sweden’s contribution for the previous three-year period.

Sweden had been expected to declare its contribution at the Global Fund replenishment meeting in October 2010. However, it decided not to make a pledge at that time because of its concerns about findings by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of misuse of funds among some grant implementers. (See GFO article.) Sweden was the first country to raise such concerns.

In announcing the pledge, Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, said that “we are beginning to see a change in attitude and meaningful actions from the Global Fund Secretariat in terms of assessing and managing risks, and handling actual cases of corruption.”

However, Carlsson said, much remains to be done to implement the Global Fund’s reform agenda, the recommendations of the High-Level Independent Review Panel, and longer-term structural changes. “I am concerned over the Secretariat’s capacity to manage and prioritise the necessary change processes,” Carlsson said. “My view is that the Global Fund’s business model is in need of additional fundamental changes.”

Carlsson added that the reports to be released by the OIG later this year will need to be followed by “clear and unambiguous action from the Secretariat.”

Carlsson said that at the Global Fund Board meeting on 21-22 November 2011 she expects to see a progress report on the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for Reform adopted by the Board in May 2011. She also said that at the same meeting, the Board should review the recently completed performance assessments of the Executive Director and the Inspector General.

Information for this article was taken from a Global Fund press release; and from a letter that Minister Carlsson sent on 18 October 2011 to her counterparts in other donor countries.