Dear subscribers

This is a short bonus issue in preparation for the three Committee meetings that start in person next week, although in reality the online virtual sessions started last week (and for the Audit & Finance Committee, as early as 1 and 2 September).

Our first article provides you with a brief overview of each Committee’s agendas. Why this information is not readily available on the Global Fund website is anyone’s guess. We now ask for greater transparency regarding these documents every time we write about these meetings: yet, as on so many topics, the Global Fund is silent.

The second article concerns the ‘last (or perhaps penultimate) hurrah’ of the Technical Reference Evaluation Group (TERG) before it’s replaced by the new evaluation function; one of its two last evaluation reports, this one is critical of the Challenging Operating Environment (COE) Policy’s achievements. This Policy was designed with the best intentions at its heart, to provide countries suffering particular circumstances such as civil upheaval, war and other disasters but the TERG’s evaluation felt that it didn’t go quite far enough and, due to country-level confusion with the Additional Safeguards Policy, it hasn’t been exploited to its best extent. However, the Secretariat seems more willing to accept some recommendations (the ones that are easier to action) than others which require a bit more thought and trouble. We shall see.

Our final article is a powerful commentary on the new role that the Global Fund is increasingly playing with regard to humanitarian aid, and why this has to be explored and expanded, using Mali as an example (Fight for what counts! And the people of Mali are worth it !). Hopefully we have whetted your appetite to read more!

As ever, Aidspan and our editorial team, under the leadership of Ida Hakizinka, does its best to ensure the accuracy of data and statements in our published articles ― and hence our inclusion of hyperlinks ― but if you, the reader, identify an error or important omission, please notify us and provide us with your data source; and we shall be happy to publish a correction or amendment.

If you enjoy the GFO and find it relevant to your work, please encourage your colleagues to colleagues to subscribe!

Don’t forget: if you are aware of an interesting development relevant to disease programmes or health systems and that you feel is worthy of global discussion, do let me know together with the name of a person prepared to write about this. Suggestions and comments can be sent to us, Ida Hakizinka or Arlette Campbell White in English, French or Spanish at ida.hakizinka@aidspan.org or acampbell.white@aidspan.org.

The Aidspan Editorial Team