Global Fund Collaborates With Country Public Financial Management Experts to Maximize Impact and Sustain Donor Investments in Health
09 July 2024
GENEVA - As part of its efforts to help countries sustain their progress in health, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) has integrated the use of its public financial management (PFM) strategy in the health sector as an enabler to drive sustainability and improve health outcomes in countries. PFM is part of the solution to enable integration and sustainable health systems strengthening. This approach ensures that resources are efficiently coordinated, managed and used to achieve impact and improved health outcomes.
Building a sustainable approach to health is an ongoing endeavor. While the concept is well-established, innovative strategies for sustaining the Global Fund’s investments continue to emerge as countries develop tailored solutions within their unique contexts, using PFM systems in resource planning, allocation and oversight mechanisms for health.
This is especially true in the current context, as the world faces numerous challenges, including acute threats from climate change and geopolitical tensions across various regions. These events have impacts on the Global Fund’s investments, making it even more crucial to sustain the progress that has been achieved in the health sector over the last two decades.
“As financial institutions, our efforts start with better alignment, planning and investment among all players, both domestic and external, to optimize the efficiency of budget allocation and spending. We work with various institutions in the PFM ecosystem (including the World Bank, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization, etc.) to promote collaboration and enhance efficiency in our approach,” said Adda Faye, the Global Fund’s Chief Financial Officer.
“Enhancing budget formulation, execution and scrutiny is essential for improving resource allocation, monitoring progress and ensuring better value for money for health outcomes. Around the world, we work with supreme audit institutions as part of the assurance mechanism on how Global Fund grants are invested to ensure greatest impact, transparency and oversight,” added Faye.
A diverse and skilled workforce brings innovative perspectives and solutions, enhances financial oversight and ensures effective resource management for health. By investing in the development of people, the Global Fund is promoting capacity building approaches to manage public funds transparently and efficiently, driving sustainable economic growth, improved public service delivery and public accountability.
To better adopt its PFM mainstreaming as a sustainability lever, last week the Global Fund brought together, for the first time, leaders from ministries of finance and health (including Health Planning, Budget Directors, Accountants General and Auditors General) from 14 countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lesotho, Malawi, the Philippines, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and The Gambia – to bolster country engagement and spearhead acceleration in the PFM maturity journey.
Moderated by Alexis Kamuhire, Auditor General of Rwanda, the discussions enabled peer learning and alignment on the ambition for increased use of the PFM systems. The countries present showed a high-level commitment for progressive PFM adoption, each bringing personal contributions and learnings based on their national context. Mr. Kamuhire reaffirmed throughout the meeting that “unity of purpose, thinking big and effective country-driven accountability are key elements of a functioning PFM system.”
Based on the milestones in their own PFM journeys, countries such as Rwanda, India and Indonesia showed significant progress in adopting public financial management systems as part of the health delivery value chain, acknowledging the need to adopt the legal, regulatory and tactical digitalization of government financial management systems with custom-built technological solutions, ownership and strategies to transition to domestic financing.
In opening the meeting, Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, said, “In the fight to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, every dollar counts. By enhancing accountability for public health funds, Global Fund grants can be most impactful, and in the long term save more lives. The collective expertise and dedication in this room will lead to concrete and actionable steps towards strengthening our PFM systems to respond to the Lusaka Agenda's call for action and progressive adoption.”
“From the Global Fund’s point of view, working with you and understanding your challenges as you continue to make progress in your respective country settings is absolutely critical in the efforts to improve the health for your people and maximizing the impact of our programs,” added Sands.
In addressing the delegates present, Faye said, “We want to work with you in your countries, for your countries. We have a commitment to be with you on your journey to help you make sustainable progress. We believe that responsible adoption of country systems will add value to our aspiration of achieving impact and good health outcomes.”
The meeting underscored the critical role of PFM in ensuring the effective use of donor funds and the importance of collaborative efforts to strengthen financial management systems in the health sector with an actionable roadmap, including a commitment to action, a mindset shift and emphasis on accountability and digitalization. The discussions aimed to pave the way for sustainable, transparent and accountable management of resources, ultimately improving health outcomes globally.