ALERT: The time to start working on Round 7 Global Fund Proposals is NOW!

[Guest guest]

ALERT: The time to start working on Round 7 Global Fund Proposals is

NOW!

In the past, the most common problem faced by applicants to the

Global Fund was that the time period between the Fund issuing

its " Call for Proposals " and applicants having to submit the

completed proposal was not sufficient for all the work that had to be

done. Applicants could not start that work early, because they did

not know when the Call for Proposals would be issued.

However, this issue no longer arises, because at the Fund's last

Board meeting it was " pre-announced " when Rounds 7 and 8 will take

place. For Round 7, the Call for Proposals (when the proposal form

and guidelines will be published) will be on or before 1 March 2007,

with proposals to be submitted by early July 2007 and Board approval

in mid-November 2007. The Round 8 dates will be one year later.

Therefore, potential Round 7 applicants can and should start their

work now; there is no need to wait for the Call for Proposals.

Furthermore, applicants that start their work now have a good chance

of submitting stronger proposals than are submitted by applicants

that wait until the Call for Proposals.

However, even applicants that start now will find the work

requirement somewhat daunting. The Fund does not just require CCMs to

fill in a highly complex proposal form; it also requires them to

start by developing and documenting fair, transparent processes to

ensure input from a broad range of stakeholders - both CCM members

and non-members - in the proposal development process. (Requirements

for the few non-CCM applicants are somewhat different.)

Global Fund requirements state, in effect, that the process to be

followed by CCMs should be as follows:

1.The CCM publicly invites a broad range of stakeholders within the

country to submit their suggestions as to what should be included in

the proposal to be sent to the Global Fund.

2.The stakeholders prepare their suggestions and send them to the CCM.

3. The CCM reviews the suggestions, and decides which ones will be

incorporated into the CCM proposal.

4. The CCM completes the Fund's proposal form, gets it signed by all

CCM members, and submits it to the Fund.

Doing this thoroughly will take some applicants longer than the four

months between the Call for Proposals and the application deadline.

But there's no reason not to start the process now.

Steps (1) through (3) can all be worked on before the Fund issues its

Call for Proposals and publishes the Round 7 proposal form.

Furthermore, applicants can review the Round 6 proposal form and

guidelines (at www.theglobalfund.org/en/apply/call6) to see the basic

conceptual approach - goals, objectives, service delivery areas,

major activities, indicators, targets and budgets - that has been

used in recent rounds and will be used again in Round 7.

A CCM that wants to be ahead of the game will invite suggestions from

a broad range of stakeholders, review the suggestions and do serous

work designing the project(s) that it wants the Global Fund to

finance - BEFORE the Fund issues its Call for Proposals two-and-a-

half months from now.

Reproduction of articles in the Newsletter is permitted if the

following is stated: " Reproduced from the Global Fund Observer

Newsletter (www.aidspan.org/gfo), a service of Aidspan. "