How is the Global Fund Organized?

 At country level, the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) is a partnership com­posed of all key stakeholders in a country’s response to the three diseases. The CCM does not handle Global Fund financing itself, but is responsible for submitting proposals to the Global Fund, nominating the entities accountable for adminis­tering the funding, and overseeing grant implementation. The CCM should preferably be an already-existing body, but a country can instead decide to create a new entity to serve as CCM.

The Global Fund Secretariat manages the grant portfolio, including screening proposals submitted, issuing instructions to disburse money to grant recipients and implementing performance-based funding of grants. More generally, the Secretariat is tasked with executing Board policies; resource mobilization; providing strategic, policy, financial, legal and administrative support; and overseeing monitoring and evaluation. It is based in Geneva and has no staff located outside its headquarters.

The Technical Review Panel (TRP) is an independent group of international experts in the three diseases and cross-cutting issues such as health systems. It meets regularly to review proposals based on technical criteria and provide funding recommendations to the Board.

The Global Fund Board is composed of representatives from donor and recipient gov­ernments, civil society, the private sector, private foundations, and communities living with and affected by the diseases. The Board is responsible for the organization’s gover­nance, including establishing strategies and policies, making funding decisions and setting budgets. The Board also works to advocate and mobilize resources for the organization.

The Global Fund signs a legal grant agreement with a Principal Recipient (PR), which is designated by the CCM. The PR receives Global Fund financing directly, and then uses it to implement prevention, care and treatment programs or passes it on to other organizations (sub-recipients) who provide those services. Many PRs both implement and make sub-grants. There can be multiple PRs in one country. The PR also makes regular requests for additional disbursements from the Global Fund based on demonstrated progress towards the intended results.

The Global Fund’s Trustee manages the organization’s money, which includes making payments to recipients at the instruction of the Secretariat. The Trustee is cur­rently the World Bank.

Since the Global Fund does not have staff at country level, it contracts firms to act as “Local Fund Agents” (LFAs) to monitor implementation. LFAs are responsible for provid­ing recommendations to the Secretariat on the capacity of the entities chosen to man­age Global Fund financing and on the soundness of regular requests for the disburse­ment of funds and result reports submitted by PRs.

Source: How is the Global Fund Organized? Core Structures