Transition and Co-Financing Review for the Global Fund
THE PROBLEM
All Global Fund-supported countries must at some point prepare for the winding down of external support. For their final grant or “transition grant”, the country submits an application and receives an allocation that emphasizes sustainability and transition goals.
To date, there has not yet been a systematic review of the transition grants to synthesize key challenges, risks, and best practices across the Global Fund portfolio of transition grants. There is great need to evaluate how well prepared these countries are for transition and what can be done to remedy some of the common roadblocks.
THE PHAROS SOLUTION
Pharos was engaged by the Global Fund to conduct an internal analysis of ten of the transition grants for countries transitioning in the end of 2021 or 2022. The ten countries of analysis span the globe: Albania, Algeria, Belize, Botswana, Dominican Republic, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, Sri Lanka, and Suriname. In addition to the ten countries for transition and co-financing, the team conducted deep dives on co-financing commitments and follow-through for El Salvador and Guyana.
Collaborating with Fund Portfolio Managers, Sustainability Officers, and other Global Fund staff, the Pharos team asked the following questions:
- Is the grant achieving its objectives and how are they performing (programmatically, financially, and otherwise) when it comes to transition?
- How has the current Covid-19 context affected the disease programs and the overall country context?
- Is the country prepared for a successful transition? If not, what precise actions can be taken to correct its course?
With the answers to these questions, Pharos produced ten country slide decks which we then synthesized into a set of aggregate findings and recommendations. The Global Fund invited the Pharos team to multiple presentations and conversations in the Secretariat about these ten countries and the implications for the entire Global Fund portfolio.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Pharos team’s advice has been taken into consideration for the future of the ten transition grants and into how the Global Fund conducts its transition process. This could have significant implications for the future grants for the Fund and for the specific focus countries. The precise decisions remain confidential to the Fund.
Status: Completed, October 2021
Team Members Involved: Robert Hecht, Catalina Gutierrez, Alexa Straus, Aishwarya Bhattacharya, and Nathan Isaacs
For more information, contact Robert Hecht at [email protected].