Protecting the Grant Money

“Transparency is a guiding principle behind the work of the Global Fund and we expect to be held to the highest standards of accountability”

Prof. Michel Kazatchkine
Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
24 January 2011

The Global Fund was created to save lives and restore hope to millions of people – in the decade since its creation, it has achieved resounding success in this mission.

Early in 2011, some media stories misrepresented allegations of misuse of funds discovered in grants financed by the Global Fund in a number of countries. These incidents were uncovered by the Global Fund’s own Office of the Inspector General, which has been undertaking a thorough review of the Global Fund portfolio to identify areas of the Global Fund’s grant oversight and risk management that need strengthening.

The Global Fund already has stringent measures in place to oversee its grants and ensure that its resources are efficiently used to save lives, and is in the process of developing additional measures to reinforce its financial safeguards. In March 2011, the Global Fund Board  called for the creation of an independent, high-profile panel of international experts to review its systems and ensure that its approaches to preventing any kind of misuse of funds are among the strongest in the world. This High Level Panel [link to HLP page] delivered its report and recommendations in September 2011, and the Global Fund is in the process of incorporating those recommendations into a number of reforms already under way.

The vast majority of Global Fund resources are delivering tremendous progress in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria, and saving millions of lives through the hard work of thousands of dedicated health workers around the world.

The Global Fund remains committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and has acted upon each instance of misuse of its resources, taking strong and swift action by suspending grants, freezing cash disbursements and demanding a return of misused funds.

This section is a quick set of resources for anyone looking for information, statements, data, and press releases issued by the Global Fund in connection with the Global Fund’s recent actions to protect its grant money. It is designed as an easy and accessible tool for media, partners and friends.