Principal recipients

Faced with a sharp decline in international aid, growing competing priorities, and an imminent risk of financial crisis, the Global Fund is making budget cuts—postponing certain expenditures related to infrastructure, equipment, and research—to keep its HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria programs running. While COVID-19 response efforts remain untouched for now, other critical initiatives risk delays, legal hurdles, and disruptions, particularly for frontline NGOs and contracted partners. The message is clear: “Protect what matters, adapt to the crisis.” The way forward? “Do more with less, without leaving the most vulnerable behind.” But were there really any unnecessary expenses to begin with? In any case, this new budgetary reality is expected to shape much of the discussion at the 53rd Board Meeting, to be held from May 7 to 9, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland.

This special issue dedicated to the 53rd Board Meeting, to be held from May 7 to 9, 2025, explores the growing tension between strategic ambitions and budgetary constraints within the Global Fund. Balancing hope, warnings, and ethical dilemmas, it highlights the critical issues that will shape the decisions ahead.

ABSTRACT Implementers of Global Fund grants may not benefit from the services provided by Supreme Audit Institutions in some African countries, according to a study carried out by Aidspan. The research is based on case studies in three countries: Cameroon, Malawi and Rwanda.

ABSTRACT Georgia has announced a change in principal recipient for HIV funding and is overhauling its country coordination mechanism, ahead of work to prepare its concept note under the new funding model.

ABSTRACT The Civil Society Principal Recipients Network is holding its annual meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on 8–12 October 2012.

ABSTRACT The Global Fund Secretariat should acknowledge that the relationship among the Secretariat, the principal recipient and the country coordinating mechanism is a difficult one to manage, says David Garmaise. "The arrangement was bound to cause problems, and it has.... CCMs exist only because the Global Fund requires it, so the Fund has to be prepared to invest the necessary resources to make CCMs work."

ABSTRACT The TRP has identified a number of issues with respect to the Round 7 applications and review process, and has made several recommendations that could lead to changes in future rounds. These deal, in part, with getting applicants to be clearer about their successes (or not) with previous grants; cautions that apply when there are multiple PRs; the need to build local capacity to develop proposals; issues regarding health systems strengthening; the need for clearer budgets; and the values of strengthening operations research capacity.

ABSTRACT Over the last few months, innovative plans by the China CCM to use an NGO as Principal Recipient for a Round 6 HIV/AIDS Global Fund grant, and to use small grass-roots NGOs for much of the implementation work, have been almost entirely reversed. The changes have arisen because there are few if any NGOs in China with sufficient experience to serve as PR, and because officials in China have little experience working with independent-thinking grass-roots NGOs. The Round 6 proposal was acceptable in principle to most of them; but the reality of implementing it appears to have been more than some of them could handle.

ABSTRACT Board members agreed on a new concept that each grant should normally have one Principal Recipient from government and one from outside government; a new method whereby countries can obtain financial support for well-developed national strategies for tackling HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria; a new approach to appointing Local Fund Agents; and more.

ABSTRACT The Fund has temporarily suspended its two grants to Chad because of evidence of misuse of funds and because of inadequate capacity by the Principal Recipient and Sub-Recipients.