Global Fund Appoints New Head of Technical Advice & Partnerships
24 January 2020
GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today announced the appointment of Michael Byrne as Head of the Technical Advice & Partnerships Department as the Global Fund strengthens technical expertise in disease teams.
“To step up the fight and most effectively leverage additional funds, we are elevating the capacity of our disease teams to help achieve global targets,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Michael will lead these efforts, and they should make a significant difference in our work with partners to accelerate progress against HIV, TB and malaria.”
Byrne brings 30 years of experience in international development including 13 years at the Global Fund. He has served since June 2019 as Acting Head of Technical Advice & Partnerships (TAP) in the Strategy, Investment and Impact Division. Before that, he led Grant Management’s High Impact Africa I Department, where he supervised mission-critical portfolios investing over $2 billion dollars in each three-year grant cycle and managed the multi-faceted challenges of grant implementation.
In the coming months, Byrne will oversee an evolution of TAP by expanding and bolstering disease teams, deepening partner engagement and providing more technical advice and guidance to the Global Fund’s Country Teams.
“With even stronger technical expertise, we will have a more strategic and coordinated engagement with partners,” said Byrne. “We have to work together to end epidemics, and we must maximize the benefits of innovation and collaboration to accelerate results at country level.”
Byrne added that TAP’s enhanced approach will provide stronger support for the Global Fund’s country teams, and also support catalytic investments, new tools, new products, and new service approaches to drive program quality and innovation in fighting HIV, TB and malaria and building resilient and sustainable systems for health.
Originally from Ireland, Michael worked in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kosovo and many other countries in a career that has included roles in the private sector, in the European Commission and in non-governmental organizations.