THE PROBLEM

Building Resilient & Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) is one of the core goals of the Global Fund and a major area of investment. Strengthened health systems are fundamental to ending the HIV, TB, and Malaria epidemics and delivering equitable and effective health services to all, including key and vulnerable populations. For the Global Fund’s upcoming New Funding Model 4 (NFM4) cycle, countries are expected to be asked to perform an RSSH gap analysis and improve the design and prioritization of their RSSH investments.

The GF’s WCA team has sought Pharos’ assistance in developing tools that help countries to prioritize RSSH investments needed to maximize impact on HIV, TB, and Malaria and to improve pandemic preparedness in the region.

Following on from our work in LAC countries, the GF asked that Pharos adapt its RSSH prioritization tool to assist WCA countries in preparing their Funding Requests (FRs) for GC7 and C19RM. The results from the tool and accompanying stakeholder workshops are meant to feed directly into the Funding Requests due in March, May, and August 2023.

THE PHAROS SOLUTION

The overall objective of this assignment is to help maximize the impact of RSSH investments for the WCA region in GC7 through the Funding Request and Grantmaking stages.

Our work was conducted in three phases:

1. Organize an RSSH workshop in Dakar, Senegal for Global Fund country teams. The goal of the workshop was to introduce and test Pharos’ RSSH prioritization tool and methodology. Held at the start of 2023, the workshop was also used to generate interest from country teams for Pharos support with GC7 grant funding request development.
2. Work with priority countries to apply the RSSH prioritization tool and support RSSH components in GC7 funding requests. It was agreed with The Global Fund and the country teams that Pharos would support Guinea Bissau, Togo, The Gambia, and Chad with development of the RSSH components for their GC7 funding requests. In addition to RSSH prioritization, Pharos also worked with The Gambia to create an implementation plan for disease surveillance activities funded by The Global Fund due to past low absorption of funding.
3. Convene a year-end workshop in Geneva, Switzerland to analyze RSSH prioritization and implementation in GC6 and GC7. In partnership with The Global Fund, Pharos facilitated a workshop with technical assistance partners to analyze RSSH implementation in GC6 and prioritization in GC7 with the end goal of identifying actionable recommendations for improvement in GC7 implementation (2024-2026) and GC8 funding request development (2026).

LOOKING AHEAD

Guinea Bissau, Togo, The Gambia, and Chad successfully submitted GC7 grant applications with evidence-backed RSSH interventions. The Gambia has also started to use the surveillance implementation tool for GC7 and C19RM activities in 2024.

The workshop in Geneva was a success, bringing together numerous technical partners and renewing conversations about improving coordination. It also generated tangible action items that can improve remaining GC7 funding requests, GC7 implementation, and better prepare The Global Fund, technical assistance partners, and country teams for GC8 funding request development.

Status: Completed, January 2023 – December 2023

Team Members Involved: Robert Hecht, Miloud Kaddar, Joan Tallada, Lidia Kayembe, Ana Diaz, Gabriel Cohen, Grace Chen, Mila Dorji, Maria Stavridou, and Jeremy Otridge

For more information, contact Jeremy Otridge at [email protected].