GLOBAL FUND OBSERVER (GFO), an independent newsletter about the Global Fund provided by Aidspan to nearly 10,000 subscribers in 170 countries.
Issue 180: 5 April 2012. (For formatted web, Word and PDF versions of this and other issues, see www.aidspan.org/gfo.)
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CONTENTS
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1. NEWS: Jaramillo Says the Global Fund Will Simplify Its Processes
In a progress report to the Board, General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo said that the Global Fund will become an organisation with “simple and agile processes,” and that grant management processes, in particular, will be streamlined. The progress report included an update on the implementation of the Consolidated Transformation Plan.
2. NEWS: Secretariat Restructuring Leads to Fewer Positions and Significant Disruption of Staff
The restructuring of the Global Fund Secretariat will result in 7% fewer positions overall, an increase of 33% in the number of positions in the Grant Management Division and a comparable decrease in the number of positions in other units. Some staff have left; others are competing for the new positions that have been created.
3. NEWS: OIG Launches Investigation of Global Fund Grants in Niger
Allegations of fraud have caused the Office of the Inspector General to open an investigation into Global Fund grants in Niger. The investigation has delayed the signing of the country’s Round 10 TB grants. There are currently no active Global Fund TB grants in Niger.
4. NEWS: Mediation Process Adopted for Disputes Related to the Findings of OIG Audits and Investigations
The Global Fund has adopted a Voluntary Dispute Resolution Process for disputes arising from audits and investigations conducted by the Office of the Inspector General.
5. NEWS: Training is the Most Common Human Resource–Related Activity Supported by the Global Fund and Other Large Funders
According to a study published in the journal Health Policy and Planning, by far the most common activity related to human resources for health supported by the Global Fund, the GAVI Alliance and the World Bank is short-term, in-service training. There has been relatively little investment in pre-service training and in health sector policy reform.
6. NEWS: Global Fund Reports that 40 CCMs Now Have Their Own Websites
According to a survey conducted by the Global Fund, 40 country coordinating mechanisms have their own websites. There is considerable variation in the quality of the sites.
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1. NEWS: Jaramillo Says the Global Fund Will Simplify Its Processes
One-third of the deliverables in the
Consolidated Transformation Plan have been completed
Global Fund will undertake a country-by-country
coordination pilot project with two bilateral donors
General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo says that the Global Fund is moving from a complex organisation with bureaucratic processes that dissatisfy donors and implementers to an organisation that “proactively responds to the needs of both donors and implementers with simple and agile processes.” Grant management processes, in particular, will be streamlined.
This statement is contained in a progress report on the restructuring of the Global Fund Secretariat and the implementation of the Consolidated Transformation Plan (CTP) which Mr Jaramillo provided to Global Fund Board members at a retreat held on 29 March 2012.
Mr Jaramillo said that the mission, values and principles of the Global Fund will remain unchanged, but the way that the Global Fund works has to be modified. He said that the revitalised Global Fund will espouse teamwork, loyalty, pride, professionalism and humility. He added that the Global Fund will be an organisation known for its “impeccable standards,” one that is not afraid to “recognise its mistakes and to change its course.”
According to Mr Jaramillo, the Global Fund is moving from having sub-optimal management practices to an organisation that will be renowned for “recognising, rewarding and developing talent.”
Mr Jaramillo said that when the restructuring is complete, the number of staff positions at the Secretariat will be reduced by 7% (see separate article in this issue). Mr Jaramillo said that a large majority of the staff at the Secretariat will be focused on grant management. For what the Global Fund terms “high-impact countries,” the average number of grant management staff per country will grow from 3.1 to 4.8. The Global Fund defines “high-impact countries” as countries with large volumes of funding, a multiplicity of grants, complex operations or other challenges.
Mr Jaramillo said that a new committee structure is being implemented at the Secretariat, consisting of a Management Executive Committee (MEC), an Executive Grant Management Committee (EGMC), a Funding and Finance Executive Committee (FEC) and an executive committee for each of the three diseases covered by the Global Fund. The role of the disease-based committees will be to maximise the effectiveness of the Global Fund and its partners in the fight against the three diseases.
In addition, there will be a high-level investment coordinating committee (ICC) for each disease whose role will be to work with partners (a) to identify the priority interventions that the Global Fund should support; and (b) to maximise the impact of health investments. Although the mandates of the executive committees for each disease and the ICCs for each disease are very similar, the former will focus internally (within the Global Fund) while the latter will focus externally (with partners).
Mr Jaramillo said that the Global Fund will undertake a “country-by-country coordination” pilot project with two major bilateral donors (not yet publicly identified). In the pilot project, the Global Fund and the donors will coordinate investments, with special emphasis on procurement and the supply of drugs; share detailed information on grants; and identify areas that require reprogramming as early as possible in the life of the grants. No further details of the pilot project were provided.
CTP update
In an unpublished appendix to his progress report, Mr Jaramillo said that 35% of the 164 deliverables in the Global Fund’s Consolidated Transformation Plan (CTP) have been completed, including 10 deliverables related to simplifying in-country monitoring of grants and risks. Among the latter were the development of a Qualitative Risk Assessment Tool, and an initial segmentation of the grant portfolio by risk.
Most of the completed deliverables had been revealed previously (e.g., the strategies on evaluation and human resources, and reorganization of the Board). Among completed deliverables that had not already been announced were codes of conduct for principal recipients (PRs), and for staff and contractors of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG); and updated terms of reference for country team members in the Global Fund Secretariat.
According to the appendix, originally there were 191 deliverables in the CTP, but 27 of them have been “superseded” – meaning either that they have been combined with other deliverables, or that they have been dropped from the plan.
Mr Jaramillo said that the CTP will be fully implemented by the end of 2012. Most of the deliverables not yet completed relate to the quality and timeliness of proposal development and grant processing, and the simplification of in-country monitoring of grants and risks.
Aidspan has prepared a matrix showing the status of the 191 deliverables in the CTP. The matrix can be downloaded directly here.
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2. NEWS: Secretariat Restructuring Leads to Fewer Positions
and Significant Disruption of Staff
Positions in Grant Management Division rise by 33%
A far-reaching restructuring of the Global Fund Secretariat has resulted in a 7% decrease in the total number of positions, and has led to considerable upheaval among staff.
Some positions, mainly in the units not directly responsible for grant management, were abolished. At the same time, new grant management positions were created. Staff who held positions that did not match to positions in the new structure were told that they would have to compete for the newly created positions if they wished to remain with the Global Fund. Some staff opted to accept separation packages.
Most of the changes happened during the month of March 2012. However, competitions to fill the new positions are expected to run until the end of April. The Global Fund said that the timelines were deliberately tight in order to ensure minimal disruption of service delivery to beneficiaries of Global Fund grants, and to make the period of uncertainty as short as possible for staff.
According to a progress report presented by General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo to the Global Fund Board at the Board retreat on 29 March, the number of positions in the Secretariat has been reduced by 49, from 667 to 618. The number of positions in the Grant Management Division has increased by 33%. The number of positions in the rest of the Secretariat has decreased by 32%. Further details are provided in the table.
Table: Number of positions, old and new structure
Old structure / New structure / ChangeNumber / %
Grant Management Division
(led by Mark Edington) / 252 / 334 / +82 / +33%
Strategy, Investment and Impact Division
(led by Debrework Zewdie) / 119 / 75 / -44 / -37%
Resource Mobilization and Donor Relations Division
(led by Christoph Benn) / 226 / 35 / -87 / -38%
Support and Control departments
(reporting direct to the GM) / 104
IT, Office of the Inspector General, and Office of the Chair / 70 / 70 / 0 / 0%
Secretariat Total / 667 / 618 / -49 / -7%
As we reported in an article in GFO 178, most of the Global Fund’s work will be carried out by the divisions shown in the first three rows of the above table. A high-level organization chart is available on the Global Fund website here.
Some positions in the old structure are similar or identical (or, in Global Fund parlance, the positions “map”) to positions in the new structure, and most staff in those positions have retained their jobs. However, 140 positions in the old structure no longer exist. The incumbents of these positions will have to leave the Global Fund, unless they apply for and are accepted for one of the new positions.
Staff whose positions were not mapped to new positions were placed on leave with pay from 26 March until 30 April to focus on their personal needs, prepare applications and be available for interviews. Coaching was made available to employees who requested it, as was assistance with CV and interview preparation, and stress management. Most staff who have to leave the Global Fund as a result of the restructuring, and certain staff who had the option to stay, will be eligible for a separation package that includes six months’ salary and, in certain cases, additional benefits.
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3. NEWS: OIG Launches Investigation of Global Fund Grants in Niger
Extension granted for the signing of the country’s Round 10 TB grants
There are currently no active Global Fund TB grants in Niger
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has launched an investigation into Global Fund grants in Niger following allegations of fraud. The investigation has delayed the signing of Niger’s Round 10 TB grants.
This information is contained in a paper prepared for the Global Fund Board in which the Secretariat sought approval for an extension to the period allowed for the signing of the Round 10 grants in Niger. The Board agreed to the extension in March.
It is not clear which grants in Niger the OIG is investigating. The Board paper said only that the Niger LFA conducted a special financial verification in 2011.
Niger has a Round 5 TB grant which closed in 2011. Thus, there are currently no active Global Fund TB grants in Niger, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. The Global Fund has provided most of the funding for TB treatment in Niger. In the Board paper, the Secretariat said that given the lack of any other Global Fund funding for TB in the country, “there are significant public health risks to not signing the Round 10 grants.”
The Round 10 TB proposal approved by the Board, which had a five-year budget of $54.9 million, contained three components – treatment; health systems strengthening (HSS); and behavioural change communication – in support of Niger’s new national tuberculosis strategy for 2011–2015.
Under Global Fund rules, grants must be signed within 12 months of the date of approval of the proposal, but this can be extended by up to three months at the discretion of the Secretariat. In the case of Niger’s Round 10 TB grants, the Secretariat exercised this discretion, extending the signing deadline to 15 March 2012. However, in the Board paper, the Secretariat said that the grants would not be signed by then. The Board agreed to extend the deadline “until such time as the Secretariat has established appropriate safeguards and implementation arrangements” for the three grants. In the Board paper, the Secretariat said that it hoped that negotiations could be finalised within the next six months.
According to the Board paper, the Secretariat has addressed, and will continue to address, the risks identified in Niger, including by restricting disbursements to recipients being investigated by the OIG, increasing the amount and scope of LFA verification exercises, and commencing the process of establishing an “international fiduciary agent” for all grants in Niger. The paper does not say precisely what an international fiduciary agent is or how it differs from a local fund agent.