Board Decisions

GF/B14/DP14

Approved by the Board on: 03 November 2006


Grant Consolidation Pilot Project

The Board refers to its earlier decision on grant consolidation, taken at its Thirteenth Meeting. To obtain useful experience that could inform the development of policies for grant consolidation, the Board authorizes the Secretariat to modify the application of existing policies to the extent necessary to consolidate grants on a pilot basis (the "Pilot Grants") in multiple countries, which the Secretariat shall select with the consent of the relevant Principal Recipients (PRs) and Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) and in consultation with other country stakeholders.

The purpose of grant consolidation includes streamlining grant management for PRs and the Secretariat, as well as enabling increased alignment with national plans, strategies and systems. The specific objectives of the grant consolidation pilot project are as follows:

  1. to assess the added value and feasibility of grant consolidation for the Global Fund and for PRs;
  2. to identify specific policy and architectural changes that will be required to enable grant consolidation across the Global Fund portfolio (as appropriate) and to inform the development, for the Board's consideration, of strategy and policy recommendations to this end; and
  3. to draw operational, policy and architectural lessons from the pilot exercises that could facilitate a broader roll-out of grant consolidation across the Global Fund portfolio and in particular, to identify the criteria for and situations that favor grant consolidation.

Specifically, the Board authorizes the Secretariat, solely in respect to the Pilot Grants, to modify the application of existing policies and procedures so as to achieve objectives that include, but are not limited to the following:

  1. The consolidation of grants to the same PR into a single grant agreement for the consolidated grant, with aggregated performance targets; 
  2. The rescheduling of Phase 2 decision dates with respect to the individual grants that are merged into the consolidated grant so as to achieve a single Phase 2 decision date for the entire consolidated grant; and 
  3. The rescheduling of Phase 1 and Phase 2 end dates with respect to the individual grants that are merged into the consolidated grant so as to achieve single Phase 1 and Phase 2 end dates that apply to the entire consolidated grant.

Any modifications of the application of existing policies and procedures made in connection with Pilot Grants shall be consistent with the Framework Document of the Global Fund.

The Board requests the Portfolio Committee to oversee the Pilot Grants and report on the lessons learned that can inform the development of policies for grant consolidation, and update the Board on progress as appropriate.

This decision point will expire upon the completion of the terms of the grant agreements of the Pilot Grants.


Budgetary Implications

The budgetary implications in 2007 of this decision are estimated to be US$1,147,630 to fund (internal and/or external) staff support for the pilots and other costs, such as travel, additional Local Fund Agent (LFA) assessments and PR consulting support.