Guides to the Global Fund

The purpose of this guide is to provide a broad introduction to the Global Fund for people who have little or no prior experience of the Fund – including members of new country coordinating mechanisms (CCMs), new principal recipients (PRs), new sub-recipients (SRs) – or new staff in existing PRs and SRs – as well as government officials, members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), donors, and journalists who report on the Fund. This guide comes in three versions: the full guide (about 46 pages); an eight-page summary, and a two-page summary.

All three versions of this guide are currently available in English only. French, Spanish and Russian versions should be posted by the end of February 2013.

The Aidspan Guide to Applications under the Global Fund's Transitional Funding Mechanism is designed to assist applicants with questions on the proposal form that may not be entirely clear and to provide guidance on how responses to the questions can be structured and what needs to be included to ensure a full response.

Unlike the guides Aidspan has produced for the last few rounds of funding, which were in two volumes, The Aidspan Guide to Applications under the Global Fund's Transitional Funding Mechanism covers everything we think applicants need to know in a single volume. Also, there is no separate version of the guide for multi-country applicants because the proposal forms for single- and multi-country applicants are almost identical.

The English- and Spanish-language versions posted below were updated on 19 January 2012 to incorporate two minor changes to the text. The changes are explained on the cover of the revised guide. The Russian-and French-language versions incorporate the changes.

Table of contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: What's New for Applications under the TFM?

Chapter 3: General Information on the TFM Applications Process

Chapter 4: Guidance on Specific Sections of the TFM Proposal Form

Chapter 5: Guidance on the Attachments

The Aidspan Guide to Round 11 Applications to the Global Fund is designed to assist applicants with the process of preparing applications for Round 11.

Volume 1: Getting a Head Start is also available from this page.

Volume 2: The Applications Process and the Proposal Form explains the applications process, describes what is new for Round 11, and provides guidance on how to fill out many of the questions on the Round 11 proposal forms. It also includes a number of extracts from proposals that were approved for funding in past rounds. Version A is for single-country applicants. Version B is for multi-country applicants.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: What's New for Round 11?

Chapter 3: General Information on the Round 11 Applications Process

Chapter 4: Guidance on Specific Sections of the Round 11 Regular Proposal Form

Chapter 5: Guidance on Specific Sections of the Common Proposal Form for Cross-Cutting HSS Components

Note: In the Word files, all links are working. In the PDF files, only some links are working; links internal to the document, including links in the table of contents, do not appear to be working.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a broad introduction to the Global Fund for people who have little or no prior experience of the Fund – including members of new country coordinating mechanisms (CCMs), new principal recipients (PRs), new sub-recipients (SRs) – or new staff in existing PRs and SRs – as well as government officials, members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), donors, and journalists who report on the Fund. This guide comes in three versions: the full guide (about 60 pages); an eight-page summary, and a two-page summary.

The Aidspan Guide to Round 10 Applications to the Global Fund is designed to assist applicants with the process of preparing applications for Round 10.

Volume 1: Getting a Head Start is also available from this page.

Volume 2: The Applications Process and the Proposal Form explains the applications process, describes what is new for Round 10, and provides guidance on how to fill out many of the questions on the Round 10 proposal form. It also includes a number of extracts from proposals that were approved for funding in past rounds. Version A is for single-country applicants. Version B is for multi-country applicants.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: What's New for Round 10?

Chapter 3: General Information on the Round 10 Applications Process

Chapter 4: Guidance on Specific Sections of the Round 10 Proposal Form

CCMs are only now beginning to focus on their role in overseeing the implementation of Global Fund grants. This guide describes what grant oversight is, and provides basic advice on how a CCM can plan and implement oversight. It includes some real-life examples from CCMs that have already started to do oversight. The primary target audience for this guide is CCMs. The guide will also be of interest to principal recipients (PRs) and large sub-recipients (SRs), as well as other stakeholders who are not on the CCM but who have an interest in the functioning of the CCM.

This guide is available in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

The Aidspan Guide to Round 8 Applications to the Global Fund is designed to assist applicants with the process of preparing applications for Round 8.

Volume 1: Getting a Head Start is also available from this page.

Volume 2: The Applications Process and the Proposal Form outlines the applications process, describes what is new for Round 8, and provides step-by-step guidance on how to fill out the Round 8 proposal form. Version B is for multi-country applicants. Version A, for single-country applicants, is also available from this page.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: What's New in Round 8

Chapter 3: General Information on the Round 8 Applications Process

Chapter 4: Step-By-Step Guide to Filling Out the Round 8 Proposal Form – Multi-Country Applicants

• part 1: Sections 1 and 2 of the Proposal Form
• part 2: Sections 3 and 4 of the Proposal Form
• part 3: Section 5 of the Proposal Form
• part 4: Attachment D to the Proposal

The Aidspan Guide to Round 8 Applications to the Global Fund is designed to assist applicants with the process of preparing applications for Round 8.

Volume 1: Getting a Head Start is also available from this page.

Volume 2: The Applications Process and the Proposal Form outlines the applications process, describes what is new for Round 8, and provides step-by-step guidance on how to fill out the Round 8 proposal form. Version A is for single-country applicants. Version B, for multi-country applicants, is also available from this page.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: What's New in Round 8

Chapter 3: General Information on the Round 8 Applications Process

Chapter 4: Step-By-Step Guide to Filling Out the Round 8 Proposal Form – Single-Country Applicants

• part 1: Sections 1 and 2 of the Proposal Form
• part 2: Sections 3 and 4 of the Proposal Form
• part 3: Section 5 of the Proposal Form
• part 4: Attachment D to the Proposal

The Aidspan Guide to Round 8 Applications to the Global Fund is designed to assist applicants with the process of preparing proposals for Round 8.

Volume 1 discusses the considerations involved in deciding whether to apply and, for those who intend to apply, emphasises the importance of getting a head start. It describes what initiatives the Global Fund will support; explains who is eligible to apply; summarize the applications process; and provides a series of links where potential applicants can obtain information concerning the development of the technical content of their proposals. Volume 1 also discusses factors that potential applicants should consider if they plan to submit a regional or non-CCM proposal.

Further, Volume 1 provides guidance on how CCMs can manage the proposal development process, including the process of soliciting in-country submissions. It also includes an extensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of proposals submitted in previous rounds of funding (based on comments by the Technical Review Panel).

This Guide provides advice on how to build a strong and effective CCM. This second edition expands considerably on what was contained in the first edition (released in 2004). The Guide will be useful to CCMs that are experiencing problems with their structure or operations. It will also be useful for CCMs that are functioning well but that want to improve their performance. Some of the topics covered in this Guide include the structure of the CCM, CCM membership, CCM operations, the CCM's role in proposal development and project implementation, and information sharing and constituency communications. The Guide provides many examples from individual CCMs.

The first edition of this Guide (English only) is now superseded, but can still be downloaded in Word and PDF format by clicking on these icons:

(Note: This guide was originally issued under the title The Aidspan Guide to Effective Implementation of Global Fund Grants)

This guide is designed to help grant recipients understand the Global Fund processes involved in implementing a newly approved grant, and deal with problems that may arise during implementation. It focuses on the interactions between the PR and other stakeholders, particularly the Global Fund and the LFA. This guide has been written primarily for CCMs and PRs, the major actors involved in the implementation process. A secondary target audience for this guide is SRs. Volume 1 (this document) covers the period from approval of the grant to the signing of the Grant Agreement. Volume 2, which is a separate document, focuses on the period from the first disbursement to Phase 2 Renewal. Volume 2 can be downloaded elsewhere on this page.