Global Fund Risk Management Requirements During Funding Request

The Funding Request is submitted by the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) for technical review by the Technical Review Panel. Often the Principal Recipients (PRs) are not confirmed at this stage of the request. However, in case the CCM has already confirmed that UNDP will be/continue to be the PR, the Country Office is invited to contribute to the submission and risk identification process. Although most of the risk assessments are conducted during grant-making, the funding request is expected to include a number of risk management considerations. These include:

• Eligibility requirements for CCMs (required by the CCM).
• Country dialogue requirements by the CCM for an inclusive and transparent funding application development process (required by the CCM).
• Co-financing, sustainability and transition planning requirements with considerations on how to strengthen them - see Global Fund Guidance Note on Sustainability, Transition and Co-financing (2022) (required).
• Protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) is a priority for the Global Fund and all funding submissions are encouraged to include the Global Fund Risk Assessment Tool for Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) and corresponding mitigation measures (recommended).
• Analysis of human-right and gender-related barriers in access to services and promote gender equality and health equity. An analysis of the social and structural drivers behind barriers related to human rights, gender equality and health equity (recommended).

• A preliminary assessment (required) of up to 3 key risks and mitigation measures along 3 key risk areas:

  1. Procurement and management of health products, including those associated with clinical laboratories.
  2. Flow of data from service delivery points.
  3. Financial or fiduciary matters.
• A draft mapping of the implementation arrangements for the proposed grant (recommended).
• Plans and capacities to prepare and respond to pandemics (required).
• A reflection from previous lessons, risks and capacity issues identified in previous implementation periods and integration of these in the new request (required)..

In parallel, the Global Fund’s Country Teams conduct their risk assessments of the funding request. These can include:

• Country dialogue - the Country Teams for High Impact and Core portfolios share with the PR / applicant the Global Fund Secretariat’s view of key risks relevant to the portfolio, and the applicant is required to describe in the funding requests how these will be addressed. These risks are reflected in the Integrated Risk Management (IRM).
• Review of the funding requests - further analysis by the Secretariat of the proposed actions by the PR to address the risks, the Country Teams highlight gaps not addressed in the funding requests that will need to be addressed during grant-making. These risks/gaps are reflected in the IRM.
• Capacity assessment of the PR - the Country Teams engage the Local Fund Agent (LFA) to tailor and conduct the capacity assessment of the PR, to inform the grant-making process.

During the grant making phase, a number of risk management measures can be further finalised by the PR – once confirmed - for submission to the Global Fund, after review by the Country Team and the LFA. These include:

• Finalisation of the Implementation Arrangement Mapping includes a visual representation of:

  • all entities receiving grant funds and/or playing a role in program implementation,
  • each entity’s role in program implementation,
  • the flow of funds, commodities, and data,
  • the beneficiaries of program activities,
  • the relations with the national health sector structures at central and decentralised levels, including the Ministry of Health, National Program, and regional and district level entities engaged in the three diseases, and
  • any unknowns (only during the funding requested stage).

• Identification of residual risks, capacity gaps, and mitigation actions - High Impact and Core portfolios review and integrate residual risks in the risk tracker in the IRM, with assigned Key Management Actions (KMAs). The Country Teams review this data and start planning assurance activities.

The above is used by the Grant Approval Committee to review the grant, and acceptance of the residual risks and mitigation strategy to be actioned during grant implementation. See Global Fund OPN Make, Approve, and Sign Grants (2024) and the Grant Agreement section of this Manual.

Please, note that the Implementation Arrangement Mapping does not replace the use of UNDP standard project governance arrangements, as per POPP PPM – Provide Oversight. Please, refer to the Risk management architecture for UNDP-implemented Global Fund projects section of this Manual for more details.

Additional guidance to support this area of work are also available through a number of resources listed below:

• Global Fund Funding Request Forms and Materials

• Global Fund Guidance Note on Sustainability, Transition and Co-financing

• Global Fund Risk Assessment Tool for Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH)

• Global Fund gender and human rights guidance and reports

• Global Fund Implementation Arrangements Mapping Instructions