Office of the Inspector General

Message from the Executive Director - Data Management

22 May 2018

Good data is critical to the Global Fund’s work. Amongst other things, the data we collect and analyse enables us to keep track of progress, target our interventions, learn what works best and report back to our stakeholders. To maximise our return on investment in fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria we have to be improving continuously the way we collate, analyse and interpret data. Our data needs are complex, given the multiplicity of sources and data types, and the variety of analyses we need to perform for different purposes and audiences, so the data management challenges are significant. We know we are on a journey and that we need to accelerate our progress. The Office of the Inspector General’s (“OIG”) audit of Data Management gives us additional confidence that we are focused on the right challenges and are moving in the right direction.

In recent years, the Global Fund has made significant investments in strengthening data quality and data management in critical areas. The OIG audit has found strong systems and consistent processes and accountabilities for the data underpinning key processes such as financial reporting and control and country allocation. The audit also highlights progressive improvements in grant management data and acknowledges the significant progress we have made on systems integration through the Accelerated Integration Management (AIM) project. Furthermore, in recognition of the need for an enterprise-wide approach to the governance of data management, we formed a cross-functional Data Governance Committee in 2017. The Committee has approved a Data Governance Design Framework, which defines data governance model across the organization and aligns expectations regarding ownership, policies, procedures, roles and responsibilities. As we have committed in the Agreed Management Action in the audit report, we will continue to flesh out and build on this Framework, and by 30 June 2019 will have finalized our enterprise-wide data management strategy and data catalogue. Key components that are already specified in the Committee’s 2018-19 work plan include agreeing common data definitions, developing the corporate data catalogue, evaluating existing roles and accountabilities, and defining corporate data management policies and processes.

We would like to thank the OIG for its observations and for confirming that we are on the right track. We share the view that continuously improving our data management capabilities and infrastructure is a vital part of delivering on our mission to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Regards,
Peter Sands