Twenty-Fourth Board Meeting

His Excellency Ambassador Patrice Debré from France’s constituency is designated as rapporteur for the Twenty-Fourth Board Meeting.

The agenda for the Twenty-Fourth Board Meeting (GF/B24/1 Revision 1), as amended to discuss the current funding position, is approved.

<ol> <li>The Board thanks the High-Level Independent Review Panel (HLP) and its support team for their hard work in delivering to the Board the report titled "Turning the Page from Emergency to Sustainability" dated 19 September 2011 (the "HLP Report").<br /><br /></li> <li>The Board adopts the HLP Report and accepts the underlying analysis, noting that it presents a compelling case for a rapid and urgent transformation of the Global Fund. The HLP acknowledges the achievements of the Global Fund over the past decade, and the importance of ensuring its success.<br /><br /></li> <li>The Board acknowledges that the Global Fund has significant weaknesses of fiduciary control and financial oversight, as identified in the HLP Report, and the Board is determined to take the necessary corrective actions to address these weaknesses. The Board takes note that the Executive Director and the Inspector General also agree with the HLP Report findings.<br /><br /></li> <li>The Board recognizes that implementation of the HLP's recommendations will require a detailed implementation plan, and that this should be informed by best-practice and draw on available experience.<br /><br /></li> <li>To take forward the recommendations of the HLP, the Board decides to execute the following action plan immediately:<br /><br />5.1 - Consistent with Recommendation 6.3 of the HLP Report ("Consolidate the Reform Agenda") the Board Chair and Vice-Chair, with the Secretariat and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), will develop a single, time-bound and costed Consolidated Transformation Plan which integrates other reform work streams currently underway with recommendations by the HLP into one single plan, which will include prioritized action items, deliverables, timelines, and parties responsible for the delivery of each item in a logical, coherent, manageable, efficient and timely manner;<br /><br />5.2 - A draft of the Consolidated Transformation Plan will be circulated to the full Board for comment by 31 October 2011, and a final draft will be transmitted to the Board by 10 November 2011 for formal adoption at the Twenty-Fifth Board Meeting; and<br /><br />5.3 - The Coordinating Group (see Paragraph 6.3.1.2 below) will be responsible for monitoring, tracking and reporting to the Board on progress of this Consolidated Transformation Plan until all action items are completed.<br /><br /></li> <li> Acknowledging that they will be important components of the Consolidated Transformation Plan that will be approved in November 2011, the Board decides that the following key actions shall commence immediately, with status reports or decision points, as appropriate, being presented at the Twenty-Fifth Board Meeting:<br /><br />6.1 - The Secretariat and OIG will commence implementation of Recommendation 1 of the HLP Report ("Turn the Page from Emergency to Sustainable Response"), in close consultation with the Board Chair, Vice-Chair and Finance and Audit Committee (FAC);<br /><br />6.2 - The Board, Secretariat and OIG will commence implementation of Recommendation 2 of the HLP Report ("Define a Doctrine of Risk and Manage to It"), except Recommendations 2.3.iii.a-b of the HLP Report. The Board will give further consideration to Recommendations 2.3.iii.a-b of the HLP Report, taking into account the clarification provided by the HLP during the Twenty-Fourth Board Meeting;<br /><br />6.3 - The Board Chair and Vice-Chair, as part of their leadership of the Governance Reform process, will integrate Recommendation 3 of the HLP Report ("Strengthen Internal Governance") into the Board Governance Plan they will finalize. To accelerate implementation of the Governance Reform process the Board:<br /><br /> <ul> <li>6.3.1 - Adopts Recommendation 3 of the HLP Report ("Strengthen Internal Governance") with the following modifications to commence from 1 December 2011:<br /><br /> <ul> <li>6.3.1.1 - The existing four standing committees will be replaced by three standing committees titled and composed as follows:<br /><br /> <ul> <li>i. Strategy, Investment and Impact: ten voting members, five from the donor bloc and five from the implementer bloc, with a chair from the donor bloc;<br /><br /></li> <li>ii. Finance and Operational Performance: ten voting members, five from the implementer bloc and five from the donor bloc with a chair from the implementer bloc; and<br /><br /></li> <li>iii. Audit and Ethics - seven members, with four independent members, one of whom will be the Chair;<br /><br /></li> </ul> </li> <li>6.3.1.2 - There will be a Coordinating Group comprised of Board and committee chairs and vice-chairs;<br /><br /></li> <li>6.3.1.3 - The Board leadership will have a casting vote on two of the committees, as follows:<br /><br /> <ul> <li>i. For the Strategy, Investment and Impact Committee, the Chair of the Board will have a casting vote; and<br /><br /></li> <li>ii. For the Finance and Operational Performance Committee, the Vice Chair of the Board will have a casting vote;<br /><br /></li> </ul> </li> <li>6.3.1.4 - The terms of reference of the three committees will include the duties as recommended by the HLP Report and will be further developed under the leadership of the Board Chair and Vice-Chair. Ethics-related matters will be included in the terms of reference of the Audit and Ethics Committee; and<br /><br /></li> <li>6.3.1.5 - To optimize their performance, the committees can include ex-officio members of the Board and will have the ability to delegate operational matters to the Secretariat.<br /><br /></li> </ul> </li> <li>6.3.2 - Requests the Chair and Vice-Chair to seek nominations from Board constituencies for the three Board Member seats of the Audit and Ethics Committee, and to identify three appropriately qualified persons as member-designates. The Board further requests the three member-designates to commence an open and transparent process to identify the four independent members of that committee, for recommendation to the Board for approval at the Twenty-Fifth Board meeting.<br /><br /></li> </ul> 6.4 - The Policy and Strategy Committee (PSC) and its Strategy Development Working Group will include Recommendation 4 of the HLP Report ("Institute a New Grant-Approval Process") into the five-year Strategy that will be finalized and submitted to the Board for approval at the Twenty-Fifth Board Meeting; and<br /><br />6.5 - The Secretariat, in close and regular consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board, FAC, PSC and OIG, will implement Recommendation 5 of the HLP Report ("Empower Middle-Management's Decision-Making") and Recommendations 6.1 and 6.2 of the HLP Report ("Measure Outcomes, Not Inputs" and "Focus on Quality and Value, Rather Than Quantity" respectively), and provide a progress report to the Board at the Twenty-Fifth Board Meeting.<br /><br /></li> <li>In implementing these actions and recommendations, the Board expects the Global Fund Secretariat to pursue the overall objectives of aid-effectiveness,1 to stabilize staff levels and to avoid any increase in general administrative overheads without the prior approval of the Board.</li> </ol>

<ol> <li>The Board recognizes uncertainties in relation to the expected funding envelope for Round 11, the Second Wave of NSAs and HSFP applications and notes that it has been revised downward to a current estimate of not more than US$0.8 billion, which may not be available until the fourth quarter of 2013.<br /><br /></li> <li>The Board and the Secretariat will examine options for modification of the application, renewal and approval processes for new and existing investments in light of these resource constraints, the recommendations of the High Level Panel and the Global Fund's strategy and reform processes. The Board will communicate the results of those deliberations no later than 1 December 2011. These deliberations will also consider options for reallocation of existing commitments to prioritize high-impact interventions, which could increase resources available for new investments.<br /><br /></li> <li>As a result of the expected delay in availability of resources, the Board extends the application deadline for Round 11, the Second Wave of NSAs and HSFP applications until at least 1 March 2012.</li> </ol>

<p>The Board:</p> <ol> <li>Approves additional funding for the Phase 2 period for the proposals listed in Table 1 in the amounts indicated for each proposal, with the clear understanding that the amounts approved are upper ceilings rather than final funding amounts, and based on an understanding that the Secretariat shall pursue on-going implementation arrangements for each proposal consistent with the recommendations set forth in its Grant Score Card. Approval is also subject to paragraph 3.c. of the Comprehensive Funding Policy (GF/B20/DP9)^[1].</li> <li>Reaffirms that the maximum funding amount for Phase 2 of each proposal shall be the sum of the amount approved by this decision and the amount of any funds approved for Phase 1 which have not been disbursed by the Global Fund at the end of the Phase 1 period.</li> </ol> <p>See attached tabledetailing total recommended funding amount of US$ 146,486,654 for the following grants: AFG-809-G07-T ; MDG-405-G07-M ; SRL-809-G10-M ; SRL-809-G11-M ; SRL-809-G12-M ; UGD-708-G07-H</p>

<p>The Board expresses its appreciation to Simon Bland for his leadership as interim Chair of the Board after the resignation of Martin Dinham as Chair due to ill health.</p> <p>Following recommendation of a candidate by the donor constituency as requested by the Board, the Board appoints Simon Bland as Chair of the Board for the period commencing from the date of this decision until the adjournment of the first Board Meeting in 2013.</p> <p>The Board expresses its gratitude for the continued leadership of Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng as Vice-Chair of the Board, whose term will also end at the adjournment of the first Board Meeting in 2013.</p> <p>This decision has no material budgetary implications for the 2011 operating budget.</p>

<p>The Board decides to amend the upper ceiling amounts for the three Round 10 consolidated proposals listed below:</p><table class="table" dropzone="copy"><tbody><tr><td style="cursor: default;">Country/ Disease Component</td><td style="cursor: default;">Amended Phase 1 Upper ceiling (2 years)(US$)</td><td style="cursor: default;">Amended Lifetime Upper ceiling (Up to 5 Years) (US$)</td></tr><tr><td style="cursor: default;">Bangladesh/TB</td><td style="cursor: default;">16,363,126</td><td style="cursor: default;">105,724,068</td></tr><tr><td style="cursor: default;">Mongolia/TB, including cross-cutting HSS</td><td style="cursor: default;">5,763,691</td><td style="cursor: default;"> 9,124,194</td></tr><tr><td style="cursor: default;">Swaziland/TB</td><td style="cursor: default;">12,864,643</td><td style="cursor: default;">39,709,609</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Board approves the amended upper ceiling amounts specified above for the initial two years.</p><p>This decision does not have material budgetary implications for the 2011 Operating Expenses Budget.</p>

<p>The Board refers to the following Decision establishing a „Policy on Timeframes for Grant Agreements‟ approved at its Eighth Board meeting:</p> <p>"If a grant agreement has not been signed 12 months after Board approval, the proposal should no longer be considered approved unless the Board decides to allow a further exceptional time extension based on information received from the Secretariat and CCMs. This time extension will be limited to a maximum of 3 months.</p> <p>The Board decides that this policy should apply for Round 3 and subsequent Rounds.”</p> <p>The Board delegates to the Secretariat the authority to allow extensions of up to three months to the signing timeframe for Round 10 proposals on an exceptional basis and only in situations in which there is a strong justification for granting an extension.</p> <p>By 30 April 2012, the Secretariat will provide a report to the Board or its relevant Committee identifying those Round 10 proposals that were granted extensions to the signing deadline, together with the justification for these extensions.</p> <p>This decision does not have material budgetary implications for the 2011 Operating Expenses Budget.</p>

<p>The Board decides that for all Rolling Continuation Channel grants which are not consolidated into Single Streams of Funding (“RCC Grants”),</p> <ol> <li>the Phase 2 Decision Making Policies and Procedures (GF/B16/DP16, Document GF/B16/7 Revision 1, Attachment 1, Section 3)(“PDMPP”) shall be applied to RCC Grants, subject to the following: <ol> <li>Paragraph 5 of the PDMPP shall be amended to read as follows: “The Phase 2 decisions will typically be taken on the basis of the reported results of a program as of the end of the 18th month of implementation, or the 24th month in the case of Rolling Continuation Channel (“RCC”) programs, and the Secretariat‟s recommendations that are made up to 23 months, or 30 months in the case of RCCs programs, after the Program Starting Date/Phase 1 Starting Date/ RCC I Starting Date (exceptions could include for situations of force majeure). The decision may be taken earlier in cases of (i) accelerated implementation; or (ii) severe exchange rate fluctuations.”; and</li> <li>The provisions of the PDMPP relating to extensions shall not apply to RCC Grants.</li> </ol> </li> <li>the “Exceptional Extensions” section under paragraph 17 of the Periodic Reviews and Commitments Policy (Annex 2a, version 2, to GF/B20/4 “Report of the Policy and Strategy Committee” and approved under GF/B20/DP31) shall be applied to RCC Grants.</li> <li>the Secretariat may extend the term of Phase 1 of an RCC Grant by up to six months to allow for flexibility in aligning the grant with in-country cycles and/or to facilitate the transition of the grant to a single stream of funding agreement. Any such extension will not alter the overall end date of the Board-approved proposal.</li> </ol> <p>This decision does not have material budgetary implications for the 2011 Operating Expenses Budget.</p>

<p>The Board sets the Phase 1 Start Date for the Côte d‟Ivoire HIV Grant CIV-910-G13-H at 1 October 2011 and decides that the program implementation period runs for five years from that time, subject to the Board‟s approval of Phase 2 funding and the terms and conditions of the grant agreement. The End Date for the program is 30 September 2016.</p><p>This decision does not have material budgetary implications for the 2011 Operating Expenses Budget.</p>

<p>The Board recognizes that Decision Point GF/B19/DP19 entitled “Flexibilities to Set Grant Start Dates” delegates to the Secretariat the authority to set the Start Date for grant agreements up to 18 months after Board approval of a proposal to allow for alignment and harmonization.</p> <p>The Board extends that delegated authority by further authorising the Secretariat to delay a Start Date to allow for exceptional circumstances. The following events are indicative of the standard required to justify „exceptional circumstances‟: natural disasters, sudden outbreaks of disease, sudden or unforeseen outbreaks of civil or political unrest that would severely hinder programmatic start up activities.</p> <p>This decision does not have material budgetary implications for the 2011 Operating Expenses Budget.</p>