Message from the Executive Director – Global Fund Grants to Angola
27 February 2020
A 2019 audit of the Angola portfolio by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General has found that grants in Angola are performing poorly. The audit finds that the poor performance can be attributed to weak country ownership, government failure to fulfill domestic commitments, unreliable data and ineffective management structures in the Ministry of Health. The audit report finds that investments by the Global Fund partnership as well as investments by the government have achieved limited impact in the country’s fight against HIV, TB and malaria with most programmatic impact indicators worsening.
The Global Fund is putting in place strict measures to address the poor performance in the country. At the same time, we are committed to working with the government to get Angola back on track in achieving impact against the diseases.
Late in 2019, the Global Fund shifted the malaria and TB grants managed by the Ministry of Health into a phase of early closure; the funds remaining under the grant intended to support the national programs will now be managed by UNDP. The Global Fund also did not approve proposed funding for a health systems strengthening grant. Additionally, the Global Fund has withheld access to the 2020-2022 allocation until enough measures are put in place to ensure successful implementation of funding.
In December 2019, the Global Fund applied Additional Safeguards Policy to grants in Angola, allowing for enhanced risk mitigation measures and greater decision-making scope in implementation of grants in the country. In January 2020, a high-level delegation from the Secretariat – led by the Chair of the Global Fund Board, Dr. Donald Kaberuka – visited Angola. This high-level mission resulted in an agreed roadmap of short-term actions addressing some of the key challenges in the country’s grants. The Global Fund has committed to supporting the country to implement the roadmap and will continue to strengthen monitoring and reporting on agreed government commitments.
The Office of the Inspector General is an integral and important part of risk management, conducting independent audits and investigations to complement the active risk management and controls put in place by the Secretariat with oversight by the Board of the Global Fund. We thank the Office of the Inspector General for this audit report, which upholds our proactive approach to detecting and being fully transparent about problems in implementation of our grants. The Global Fund is committed to constantly strengthening measures to increase value for money and improving the effectiveness of health investments so they can reach the people most in need, in countries and communities all over the world.
Respectfully,
Peter Sands