An independent watchdog of the Global Fund and publisher of Global Fund Observer

Aidspan - independent watchdog of the Global Fund and publisher of Global Fund Observer

Aidspan is a non-governmental Kenya-based organization whose mission is to reinforce the effectiveness of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Aidspan does so by serving as an independent watchdog of the Fund, and by providing services that can benefit all countries wishing to obtain and make effective use of Global Fund financing. Aidspan finances its work primarily through grants from foundations. Aidspan does not accept Global Fund money, perform paid consulting work, or charge for any of its products.

Aidspan provides the following services:

1. Watchdog services

  • Watch for and constructively comment on ways in which the Global Fund's leadership, Secretariat or grant recipients may not be living up to the Fund's founding principles.
  • Communicate findings publicly (via Global Fund Observer) or privately, as appropriate.

2. Publication services

  • Global Fund Observer (GFO), a free email newsletter providing news, analysis and commentary to over 7,000 subscribers in 170 countries.
  • Aidspan Guides, a series of free publications providing detailed practical advice to those applying for, overseeing or implementing Global Fund grants.

3. Web services

  • The Grant Details, Analysis and Evaluation pages on Aidspan's web site, a comprehensive on-line resource for comparing the performance of Global Fund grants.
  • More web services (forthcoming).

4. Facilitation services

  • Global Fund Round Tables for global health leaders and advocates (under the direction of a multi-sectoral steering committee).
  • More facilitation services (forthcoming).

Aidspan Spotlight

Aidspan's facilitation services are provided in both developing and developed countries. In developing countries, Aidspan works with others to increase the number of viable grant applications that are submitted to the Global Fund, to strengthen the effectiveness of Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs), and to improve the chances that grants are effectively implemented. In developed countries, it works with others to improve the chances that more money will be given to the Global Fund.

Aidspan's Grant Details, Analysis and Evaluation pages show how well each Global Fund grant is performing against its own goals and in relation to other grants. Based on in-depth data automatically downloaded from the Global Fund's website on a regular basis, the system offers both a graphical and a tabular assessment of the performance of each grant.

Global Fund Observer (GFO) is a widely-read, authoritative and free email-based newsletter, produced by Aidspan, that provides an independent platform for news, analysis and commentary about the Global Fund to over 7,000 subscribers in 170 countries.

Global AIDS and the Global Fund

Since its inception, the Global Fund has approved 717 grants, of which 442 have been extended to Phase 2 (Years 3 and beyond).

The most recent agreement for a new grant was signed on 16 August 2010, providing an initial amount of $12,331,525 for a project in South Africa.

The most recent agreement to extend a grant beyond its initial 2-year period was signed on 16 August 2010, providing $3,412,811 for a TB project in Multicountry Western Pacific.

Funding has been distributed by disease component and by region as follows:

Approved funding by disease component
HIV/AIDS $10.50 billion
Malaria $5.33 billion
TB $3.22 billion
HIV/TB $0.23 billion
HSS $0.09 billion
Integrated $0.00 billion
Approved funding by region
East Africa $4.76 billion
West and Central Africa $3.16 billion
Southern Africa $3.05 billion
East Asia and the Pacific $2.80 billion
South Asia $1.68 billion
Eastern Europe and Central Asia $1.44 billion
Latin America and the Caribbean $1.40 billion
North Africa and the Middle East $1.08 billion

For details of individual grants, country-by-country information, indications of which grants are ahead of or behind schedule, and more, visit the Grant Details, Analysis and Evaluation pages on this site.