GF/B15/DP08
Approved by the Board on: 27 April 2007
Use of Existing Flexibilities, and Flexibility in the Timing of Phase-2 Reviews
The Board reaffirms its commitment to the principles of alignment and harmonization - in particular to further alignment of the Global Fund with national strategies, systems, and structures, and further harmonization with the procedures of international partners, as a means to achieving increased impact.
The Board recognizes that there is much flexibility in the current policy framework of the Global Fund that can and should be further exercised to enable increased alignment and harmonization. Thus, the Board encourages the Secretariat, Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs)1 and Principal Recipients to communicate and fully exercise - as relevant and appropriate - these existing flexibilities.
In addition, the Board decides, in principle, to allow CCMs to request greater flexibility, for grants to operate in alignment with the implementation of national programs, in the timing of, and the performance period covered by, the Phase-2 review, for the purpose of enabling greater alignment with national cycles and harmonization with other donors' evaluation efforts. The Secretariat shall only allow this flexibility where relevant and appropriate, based on a set of conditions to be determined and agreed by the Board. The Board shall vote on any requests for bridge funding in cases in which such funding would be necessary to avoid interruption of program activities prior to the beginning of Phase 2. The Board requests the Portfolio Committee to propose appropriate modifications to existing Board policies to enable the Secretariat to exercise this flexibility, including by specifying the conditions under which the Board would allow CCMs to request this flexibility and the specific timing parameters for the Phase-2 review, and to present these to the Board for approval at its Sixteenth Meeting.