The Partnership

The UNDP Global Fund Partnership

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is centred around six core development areas, known as our signature solutions: poverty and inequality, governance, resilience, environment, energy and gender equality.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3) – ensuring health and well-being for all at all ages – is critical to achieving progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Because health is an integral part of human capital and a precondition, driver and outcome of sustainable development, SDG 3 is linked to around 50 health-related targets across the SDGs and the pledge to leave no one behind. Cascading and intersecting global crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, mean the world is not progressing at the pace needed to reach the health-related SDG targets by 2030.The increasing complexity of the health and development landscape, widening economic and social inequalities, rapid urbanization and the increasing frequency and impact of humanitarian crises, highlight the need to adopt an integrated approach to health and development in order to ensure progress across the SDGs. This means using a strategic approach that harnesses key synergies across the goals and delivers shared gains. Health is one key area where successful outcomes can positively impact multiple SDGs. For example, good health can make important contributions to achieving gender equality and empowering women, reducing inequalities, providing access to justice and ending poverty and hunger. Similarly, advances in these areas can in return benefit health.

Resilient systems for health are especially needed where political turmoil persists and where natural disasters are most prone to strike. A targeted approach ensures the most vulnerable are reached. UNDP continues to work with governments to help focus on geographic areas where needs are elevated or where epidemics present a public health concern. More investments in health and community systems can ensure that those most in need receive the assistance integral to their survival and well-being.

For further information please refer to Connecting the Dots: Towards a More Equitable, Healthier and Sustainable Future: UNDP HIV and Health Strategy 2022-2025 The strategy guides UNDP’s work on HIV and health in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

About the Global Fund

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (“the Global Fund”) was established in 2002 as an innovative, multi-billion-dollar international financing institution. It aimed to help the fight against these three diseases by dramatically increasing the amount of funding and directing money to areas of greatest need. The Global Fund is a partnership between governments, development agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector (including businesses and foundations), and communities.

The Global Fund is a financing institution, not an implementing entity and works as a partnership and achieves success by supporting implementer governments, affected communities and other in-country stakeholders to have the tools that they themselves determine are needed to fight the three diseases. The Global Fund 2023 – 2028 strategy’s mission is to attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, reduce health inequities and support attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Global Fund raises funds in three-year cycles known as Replenishments. Funding is allocated to eligible countries, which use inclusive consultations called ‘country dialogues’ to develop funding requests through Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs). These requests are reviewed by the Technical Review Panel for alignment with technical guidance. Once approved, the funding request is turned into grants, prepared with a Principal Recipient. The Grant Approvals Committee reviews the final grants before Board approval and disbursement. Effective implementation and monitoring are crucial, involving ongoing reviews to address issues and optimize performance. For more details, visit the Global Fund Funding Cycle page.

Global Fund Differentiated Approach

In a bid to respond more effectively to the diverse range of contexts where its grants are implemented, the Global Fund follows a differentiated approach framework.

Differentiation is carried out based on multiple factors including disease burden and income level of a country, epidemiologic and other socio-political contextual dimensions; financing gaps; fiscal space; absorptive capacity; risk; and where and how the Global Fund with partners can have the most catalytic impact.

Requirements, reviews and approvals of grants are differentiated based on the following portfolio categories, and other factors such as challenging operating environments (COE) and transitioning countries (Refer to the 2023 – 2025 Portfolio Categorization on Page 5 of the Global Fund Operational Policy Manual):

Focused countries (smaller portfolios, lower disease burden, lower ‘mission risk’ - i.e. less critical to the GF’s ‘mission’): all countries with a current total country allocation under US$ 75 million, plus most regional grants.

Core countries (larger portfolios, higher disease burden, higher risk): countries with a current allocation between $75 million and $400 million.

High-impact countries (very large portfolios, ‘mission critical’ disease burden): includes countries with a current allocation of $400 million or more.

The differentiated approach has policy and operational implications, including but not limited to the following: 1) application/access to funding; 2) reporting, including frequency of Progress Update and Disbursement Request (PU/DR) submissions; 3) frequency of disbursements; 4) timing/frequency of reprogramming submissions; and 5) flexibilities on budget adjustments.

The UNDP-Global Fund Partnership

UNDP and the Global Fund have been engaged in partnership since late 2002. The partnership was formalized in December 2003 through an Exchange of Letters between the UNDP Administrator and the Global Fund Executive Director. The partnership is further delineated in the UNDP–Global Fund Framework Agreement.

UNDP is requested to serve as interim Principal Recipient (PR) in countries where complex emergencies or other challenging operating environments exist, and when the Global Fund and the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) have not found a suitable local entity. During programme implementation, UNDP is expected to develop the capacity of one or more local entities to assume the role of PR as soon as possible. Under the Global Fund dual-track funding policy, UNDP can also be a Co-PR (with a separate entity as the other PR) to a disease component of a proposal.

UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund focuses on three interlinked objectives:

Supporting implementation by serving as interim/last resort PR (which is equivalent to an Implementing Partner in UNDP’s programmatic terminology) of the Global Fund in countries facing challenging operating environments;

Developing the capacity of national entities to take over the management of Global Fund projects as soon as circumstances permit (exit strategy), or to improve the national entities’ performance while they are already serving as PRs; and

Strengthening policy and programme quality of the Global Fund-related work, both at country and global levels, in line with UNDP’s role as a cosponsor of UNAIDS and UNDP’s core mandates in governance and capacity development. This includes (i) promoting the inclusion of human rights and gender equality initiatives into Global Fund grants, and (ii) ensuring that financing reaches key populations such as men who have sex with men, and local networks of people living with HIV. UNDP also helps to align grants with national development plans and poverty reduction strategies, promotes appropriate public sector reform and anti-corruption initiatives, and promotes principles of national ownership, aid effectiveness and sustainability.

Operative Parties

Principal Recipient

The Principal Recipient (PR) is nominated by the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and confirmed by the Global Fund Secretariat as the grantee for Global Fund funding. It is the entity legally responsible for grant proceeds and implementation results in a recipient country, and Global Fund guidelines specify that the PR should be a local entity whenever possible. Under the Global Fund dual-track funding policy, two separate entities can serve as PR for grants covering the same disease component.

Once a proposal has been approved, the PR works with the Global Fund Secretariat to develop a Grant Agreement, which sets out the funds to be provided to the programme, the terms and conditions under which the funds will be made available, and programme results to be achieved over time.

Once the agreement has been signed, grant funds are disbursed to and managed by the PR, who may in turn channel funds to other organizations (Sub-recipients (SRs)) to implement activities under the grantee’s oversight. The PR reports on a regular basis to the Global Fund Secretariat on results achieved against the agreed performance targets, on expenditures against budgets and on progress against any Conditions Precedent (CP) detailed in the Grant Agreement or other Global Fund requirements. The PR may be a non-governmental organization (NGO), a public entity (such as a government ministry), a private-sector organization or a development agency.

UNDP is nominated as an interim PR in countries facing challenging operating environments and when the Global Fund and the CCM have not found a suitable local entity for the role. During programme implementation, UNDP is expected to develop the capacity of one or more local entities to assume the role of PR as soon as possible.

Sub-recipients and Sub-sub-recipients

Sub-recipients

The Sub-recipient (SR) is contracted by the Principal Recipient (PR) of the grant to assist in implementing programme activities. The PR is responsible for the oversight of the implementation by the SR. SRs often play a pivotal role in the implementation of programme activities, the management of grant resources and the timely achievement of grant results.

The UNDP–Global Fund Grant Regulations define an SR as an entity to which UNDP provides funding in order to carry out activities contemplated under the programme. In UNDP terms, an SR is a ‘responsible entity’ or ‘contractor’.

It is important to distinguish between SRs and other entities that provide services in a project.  For example, PRs are not expected to be directly engaged in the manufacture and sale of goods, the establishment and use of mechanisms at an international level to facilitate the procurement of goods (such as mechanisms that would not ordinarily be developed by the PR solely to undertake activities under the grant or grants), or  the innovation and delivery of services that are not directly tied to programme interventions (for example, a PR would not be expected to undertake the development and implementation of accounting or other financial software packages, but may be expected to undertake the development and  implementation of a training course for medical personnel or supply management chains for programme material). Accordingly, entities contracted by the PR to perform these activities (such as manufacturers, procurement agents for certain tasks, and certain service providers) should not be treated as SRs. Please refer here for further guidance on distinguishing between SRs and contractors.

We note that the decision on whether to treat a contractor as an SR or subcontractor under this definition will often be unclear. In cases which do not clearly fit within the definition, it is advised to consult the UNDP Global Fund Partnership and Health Systems Team (GFPHST).

Sub-sub-recipient

Sub-sub-recipients (SSRs) are SRs of SRs. UNDP is legally accountable for any project implementation by SSRs – as it is for SRs – within Global Fund grants for which it is PR.

Country and Regional Coordinating Mechanisms

The Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism Policy, approved by the Global Fund Board in May 2018, outlines the key principles and requirements for Coordinating Mechanisms (CMs), which include Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCM), Regional Coordinating Mechanisms (RCM), and in certain cases non-CCMs and Regional Organizations (RO).

Country Coordinating Mechanism

The Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) is a country-level partnership of stakeholders that is central to the Global Fund’s commitment to local ownership and participatory decision-making. CCMs are composed of representatives from both the public and private sectors – including government bodies, multilateral or bilateral agencies, NGOs, academic institutions, the private sector and people living with the diseases.

The specific role of the CCM is as follows:

During the development of the funding request to the Global Fund the CCM prepares the request based on local needs and financing gaps. As part of the request, the CCM nominates one or a few Principal Recipients.

Throughout the lifetime of the grant the CCM is responsible for the oversight of implementation by the Principal Recipient.

Throughout the lifetime of the grant, the CCM ensures links and consistency between Global Fund assistance and other development and health assistance programmes in support of national disease responses.

CCMs may be eligible for ‘basic’ or ‘expanded’ funding directly from the Global Fund Secretariat to cover certain CCM costs.  The Global Fund website provides more information on CCM eligibility requirements and guidelines.

UNDP may be nominated to provide oversight of such funding as the ‘recipient entity’ for CCM funding.  Please see here for the standard terms and conditions for CCM agreements between the Global Fund and UNDP.

Regional Coordinating Mechanism

For regional or multi-country grants, two types of coordinating bodies may submit funding requests and serve as the governance structure for the grant: a Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) or a Regional Organization (RO).

An RCM is a multi-country regional-level public-private partnership whose role is, among others, to (1) coordinate the development of the funding proposal(s) to the Global Fund for relevant program(s) based on priority needs at the regional level and (2) oversee the implementation of program activities. RCMs are subject to the Eligibility Requirements and are eligible for CCM funding.

ROs, which are not eligible for CCM funding, are organizations that can demonstrate the following characteristics:

a) Be a legally registered entity;

b) Not be a United Nations, multilateral or bilateral agency; and

c) Demonstrate broad regional stakeholder consultation and involvement.

It should be noted that ROs are not subject to the Eligibility Requirements, although it is strongly recommended that they implement them to the extent possible. If there are questions on the CCM Eligibility Requirements as they apply to a funding request submitted by a RO, please contact your Programme Advisor, Global Fund Partnership & Health Programme Implementation Support Team, for guidance.

Local Fund Agents

In keeping with its aim to promote country ownership and to maintain a lean organizational structure, the Global Fund does not have offices in the countries, regions or territories that receive Global Fund financing. Instead, it relies on contracted entities, selected through a competitive bidding process, to serve as Local Fund Agents (LFAs). The LFA is a crucial part of the Global Fund’s system of oversight and risk management, providing independent, professional information and recommendations that enable the Global Fund to make informed funding decisions at each stage of the grant life cycle. Typically, the Global Fund contracts with one LFA per country receiving Global Fund resources.

During grant making, the LFA assesses the financial management, procurement, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and administrative capacities of the nominated Principal Recipient (PR) using the PR Capacity Assessment Tool.

The Grant Agreement specifies that the PR is required to cooperate with the LFA to permit it to carry out its function. It also specifies the following obligations of the PR with respect to the LFA:

channel all reports (including periodic and SR audit reports, Disbursement Requests and required communications) to the Global Fund through the LFA;

permit the LFA to make ‘ad hoc’ site visits; and

cooperate with the LFA in any way the Global Fund might specify (e.g. in relation to financial management, review of internal controls, systems and processes, risk assessment; review of implementation arrangements and other technical aspects related to grant implementation)The Global Fund website provides additional information about LFAs.

Global Fund Secretariat

The Global Fund Secretariat is responsible for day-to-day operations, including mobilizing resources from the public and private sectors, overseeing grant implementation, providing financial, legal and administrative support to the Global Fund Board, and reporting information on the Global Fund’s activities to the Board and the public.

After the Board has approved a proposal for funding, the Secretariat, through the Local Fund Agent (LFA), assesses the capacity of the nominated Principal Recipient (PR) (through a PR assessment) to manage the implementation of the activities funded under the grant. Given UNDP's longstanding partnership with the Global Fund and its role as a Fund Agent, this step is usually straightforward for UNDP, with the UNDP Global Fund Partnership and Health Systems Team (GFPHST) providing support to the Country Office in carrying out the assessment. If the outcome of the assessment is satisfactory, the Secretariat enters into a Grant Agreement with the PR. The Secretariat is also responsible for making the annual funding decision during the lifetime of the grant.

The Global Fund website provides more information about the Secretariat.

Global Fund Board

The Global Fund Board is responsible for overall governance of the Global Fund and guides the development of the core business model.

Once the funding request has been evaluated by the Technical Review Panel (TRP) and has gone through grant-making, the Board reviews the funding request to confirm that the grant is ready for the first tranche of funding to be disbursed.

The Board includes representatives of donor and recipient governments, NGOs, the private sector (including businesses and foundations) and communities affected by AIDS, TB and Malaria. Key international development partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Bank also participate as non- voting members.

The Global Fund website provides more information about the Board.

Technical Review Panel

The Technical Review Panel (TRP) is an independent panel of international experts in health and development who review eligible grant proposals for technical merit (soundness of approach, feasibility and potential for sustainability) and assess proposed interventions to ensure they reflect current knowledge of international best practice to address the three epidemics. Based on this review the TRP makes funding recommendations to the Global Fund Board. The Global Fund website provides more information about the TRP.

Office of the Inspector General

The Global Fund Office of the Inspector General (OIG) operates as an independent unit of the Global Fund. The Inspector General reports to the Global Fund Board for strategic direction, reinforcement and accountability. Led by the Inspector General, the mission of the OIG is to provide the Global Fund with independent and objective assurance over the design and effectiveness of controls in place to manage the key risks impacting the Global Fund’s programmes and operations.

The scope of work of the Inspector General encompasses all aspects of the Global Fund’s activities including those carried out on its behalf by its programme recipients, partners and suppliers. All systems, processes, operations, functions and activities within the Global Fund are subject to the Inspector General’s review. The activities of the OIG are:

audit;
inspection;
counter-fraud and promotion of ethical conduct;
investigations;
assurance validation; and
functional

The Global Fund website provides more information about the OIG.

Operative Framework

i. Grant Regulations

The UNDP–Global Fund partnership is defined through agreed Grant Regulations (Annex A to the Framework Agreement between the Global Fund and UNDP).  Except for matters specifically agreed to in the Grant Agreement or the Exchange of Letters, UNDP uses its normal operating framework for implementation of Global Fund-financed projects. Article 2 (a) of the Grant Regulations to the Grant Agreement recognizes that UNDP will administer the programme in accordance with its regulations, rules and procedures.

ii. Implementation modalities

When acting as Principal Recipient (PR), UNDP is acting as an ‘Executing Agent/Implementing Partner’ and, therefore, uses the Direct Implementation (DIM) modality. At the country level, DIM can only apply in non-harmonized countries or for projects outside a signed Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) in harmonized countries. For projects under a signed CPAP, DIM replaces the Direct Execution (DEX) terminology that was used in the past.

UNDP’s role as PR to Global Fund grants requires it to have the technical and administrative capacity to assume the responsibility for mobilizing and applying effectively the required inputs to reach the expected outputs. On the other hand, it is expected that the implementation of the DIM modality contributes to building national capacities. The UNDP CO ascertains the national capacities during the project formulation stage (through an SR assessment), determining where the strengths and weaknesses are, how UNDP can assist in building new capacities, and the exit strategy of the project, ensuring that UNDP’s intervention has contributed to the development of new capacities.

As Executing Agent/Implementing Partner, UNDP assumes overall management responsibility and accountability for project implementation, while as a funding agency it is accountable to the UNDP Executive Board for all aspects of its operations. UNDP must follow UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP).

UNDP may identify a ‘Responsible Party’, such as a Sub-recipient (SR), to carry out activities within a DIM project. This may be the government, non-governmental organizations (NGO), community-based organizations (CBO), community groups, academic organizations or a United Nations agency. UNDP’s relationship with this SR must be agreed and defined in an SR agreement.

The main requirements for DIM are:

to identify partners and define their roles and responsibilities in the project, ensuring broad participation by stakeholders;
to adapt the CO structure and to assign the technical, managerial and administrative tasks to carry out DIM projects; and
to establish administrative procedures and operational systems to ensure the management of project inputs in an effective, efficient and transparent manner.

iii. Project Document

UNDP operates Global Fund-financed programmes under the framework set forth in the Country Office’s Standard Basic Assistance Agreement (SBAA) with the host country. A Project Document must be formulated and approved by all parties involved. This Project Document constitutes the legal framework for the project.  Please refer to the Programme and Project Management area of UNDP POPP.

iv. Audit

Audits of UNDP are guided by the ‘single audit’ principle, under which any review by any external authority, including any governmental authority, is precluded under the United Nations Legal Framework. This framework reaffirms the role of the Board of Auditors and the Joint Inspection Unit as external oversight bodies, and, in this regard, affirms that any external review, audit, inspection or investigation of a CO can be undertaken only by such bodies or those mandated to do so by the General Assembly. Internal audits are conducted by the Office of Audit and Investigation (OAI). OAI audits all sources of funds that are administered by UNDP, including UNDP-managed Global Fund projects.  Please refer to the audit section of the Manual for further information and guidance on types of audit.

The UNDP-Gavi Partnership

About Gavi

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), is an international organisation created in 2000 to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. Based in Geneva, the Alliance comprises major public and private stakeholders in immunization. It includes developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other philanthropists. Gavi helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases (1 billion children were vaccinated through routine between 2000–2022, more than 68 million in 2022 alone), averting 17.3 million deaths for the same period.

Two key factors that sets Gavi apart from other global health actors is its public-private partnership model – allowing it to capitalize all stakeholders’ comparative advantages – and its business model.  Drawing on the individual strengths of the Alliance partners, Gavi pools demand for vaccines from the world’s poorest countries, guarantees long-term, predictable funding, and brings prices down. A cornerstone of this model is Gavi’s efforts to improve the health of markets for vaccines and other immunizations. In 2016, the Gavi Secretariat, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation jointly developed a “healthy markets framework.

Gavi also provides countries with health system strengthening support to sustainably improve equity in immunisation coverage, encouraging governments to engage civil society organizations in this work. It addresses health system bottlenecks primarily in four areas: supply chain; data availability, quality, and use; community engagement; and, in-country leadership, management, and coordination.

Eligibility for Gavi support is determined by a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita according to World Bank data. When demand for support from Gavi-eligible countries is higher than available donor resources, Gavi applies a prioritization mechanism to country proposals based on criteria intended to maximize health impact and value for money, reinforce financial sustainability of immunization programmes, support countries with the greatest need, and promote equitable distribution of Gavi’s resources. 

From the beginning of Gavi support, governments are expected to co-finance vaccines by financing a fraction of the needed doses. Gradually, as national income levels grow, co-financing levels for governments increase. Once countries have surpassed Gavi’s eligibility threshold, they enter an accelerated transition process.

Gavi and the Global Fund

Gavi and the Global Fund are the two largest multilateral health financing mechanisms, with closely aligned missions to scale access to health services, fight infectious diseases, and save lives. Both organizations are committed to building resilient and sustainable systems for health and strengthening overall health systems, providing more health products and services to more people, and ensuring access to improved resources. In achieving their respective missions, Gavi and the Global Fund have shown meaningful alignment between their overarching strategic objectives, geographical scope of operations and governance representation.

Both organizations carry out their mission by providing grants, many of which benefit from a similar donor base. Grants from Gavi are mainly implemented by national immunization programs. Approximately 80 percent of this support is provided as commodities, which are procured centrally by UNICEF. As of May 2018, 56 countries remain eligible for Gavi support (of which nine are in the process of transition), as based on national income level, while 109 countries are currently eligible for Global Fund support, as based on countries’ income as well as disease burden and other factors. While the Global Fund has a wider geographic scope than Gavi, in part owing to different eligibility criteria, they are concentrated in many of the same countries, particularly in Africa.

In recent years, Gavi and the Global Fund have increasingly coordinated their country-level engagement and investments. This is particularly relevant where countries choose to use the support of both organizations to tackle similar bottlenecks (e.g. to strengthen supply chains) or where both face similar challenges (e.g. low fiduciary management capacity in the same implementing entity). The two organizations have aligned health systems investments in countries such as Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. This includes joint efforts to strengthen supply chains and data systems.

Building on years of engagement at the program level, the Global Fund and Gavi relocated their headquarters to a common campus in Geneva, in March and June 2018 respectively, signalling their commitment to expand opportunities for engagement. Beyond increasing operational efficiency, the two organizations have highlighted four programmatic areas for further collaboration to increase the effectiveness and impact of their missions. As outlined in the Global Fund 39^th Board paper, prepared jointly with Gavi, Enhancing impact and efficiency: Collaboration between Gavi and the Global Fund, these key areas of collaboration include (1) Sharing knowledge, (2) Coordinating policy advocacy, (3) Aligning programmatic policies, and (4) Making joint or coordinated investments, with opportunity areas for each illustrated in the figure below.

In October 2023, Gavi and the Global Fund launched four workstreams to deepen collaboration, and more recently incorporated GFF into this work, including on (i) malaria, (ii) Health systems strengthening (includes GFF), (iii) Country engagement (includes GFF), and (iv) Enabling functions / operations. Please find more information here on Collaboration between Global Fund – Gavi – global financing facility.

About the UNDP-Gavi partnership

UNDP’s first formal partnership agreement with Gavi started with support to a 2013-2017 Gavi Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) grant in India, in partnership with WHO and UNICEF. UNDP took lead of a US$38.5 million component of the grant to support the development of a national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for immunization, national research, and the roll-out of an electronic logistics management information system for vaccines.

UNDP and Gavi have continued to expand collaboration across geographic as well as policy and programmatic areas. In addition to India, where the pilot leveraging an electronic vaccine intelligence network (eVIN) to digitize the entire supply chain for vaccines across 12 states entered a second phase in 2017, UNDP currently has project agreements with Gavi in Tajikistan, Indonesia, and Zambia. Beyond this direct programmatic engagement, UNDP works closely with Gavi in a number of other countries, providing support in the form of knowledge sharing, policy guidance, and technical assistance, particularly on health systems strengthening, sustainable financing, and supply chain management for the implementation of large-scale health programmes. UNDP’s longstanding collaboration with the Global Fund likewise allows it to support enhanced coordination between the two organizations to optimize synergies on country level responses.

Ranging from full implementation and end-to-end support for grant management, to specialized assistance in a single technical area, UNDP’s partnership with Gavi is grounded in its comparative advantages and tailored to the needs of each country context. Its work is guided by its diverse experiences in delivering large, complex programmes for the Global Fund and other public health donors in challenging operating environments and fragile countries, and its work with governments to strengthen health systems and build capacity in managing donor resources in close coordination with WHO, UNICEF and other UN agencies.

Building on the success of its health implementation support model employed for its partnership with the Global Fund, UNDP offers Gavi three interconnected and mutually reinforcing pillars of support:

1. Implementation and management of large-scale health programmes

From application writing to graduation from donor funding, UNDP can provide Gavi with full support at all stages of the grant cycle, backed by its extensive experience ensuring the effective use and immediate mobilization of donor funding in challenging operating environments. Depending on the country context, activities include programme management, financial management and oversight, sub-recipient management, health information systems, and procurement and supply chain management. This work is underpinned by a focus on promoting national ownership. UNDP draws on its significant experience in transferring the management of Global Fund programmes from a third entity such as a national Principal Recipient to UNDP and from UNDP back to a national Principal Recipient. UNDP’s ability to build on its existing country presence and project management teams for health helps to lower start-up and implementation costs for partners on new initiatives. It can likewise provide robust advisory services through its regional presence and centralized advisory teams in Geneva and New York, in addition to online tools for comprehensive financial and programmatic donor reporting. Among its areas of implementation expertise, UNDP offers Gavi a strong base of experience and existing processes, tools, and systems to ensure effective: Risk management With its extensive experience providing implementation support in fragile countries facing challenging operating environments (crisis countries; economic and political upheaval; severe/chronic capacity constraints; and donor sanctions), UNDP is well equipped to ensure strong risk management. It can support, for example, with payment schemes for health workers in crisis countries/settings; risk management tools and processes integrated into one comprehensive system, enabling the identification, prioritization and management of risks; and risk management arrangements for programme implementation, applying differentiated safeguards to the different categories of countries. UNDP also provides assurance and risk management frameworks for effective oversight for grant administration, governance, and project implementation in compliance with donor requirements. It benefits from close collaboration with donors’ oversight bodies, such as the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General and the USAID Office of Audit, as well as its experience in centrally managing sub-recipient audits covering the entire health portfolio.

Financial management, which includes:

Ensuring implementation is in line with robust Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP), Financial Rules and Regulations and Internal Control Framework. These are designed to accomplish specific programme goals and objectives, safeguard assets, reduce risk of fraud and error, ensure the quality of internal and external reporting, and facilitate compliance with applicable laws, regulations and internal policies;
Recording, monitoring and reporting of all financial transactions through UNDP’s Atlas/Quantum Enterprise Resource Planning system with fiduciary controls enacted at every step of the grant life cycle;
Monitoring and review of financial reports of implementing agents against agreed programme budgets to ensure fairness of expenditure and verify accuracy and completeness of financial information, including review of supporting documents; and
Securing accountability in the use of programme resources through financial reviews to ensure funds are being appropriately used to achieve programme outputs, and that the implementing agents have sufficient controls in place to demonstrate sound, correct and responsible use of funds.

Sustainable procurement and supply chain management

UNDP offers innovative approaches for immunization supply chain strengthening, having pioneered the roll-out of eVIN in India, and continues to build on this model to improve supply chains in other contexts. Its end-to-end support for logistics management additionally includes the provision of warehousing infrastructure, equipment and solar power systems; strengthening health products distribution systems, cold chain management, and health care waste management; greening procurement and supply chains, such as promoting reduced packaging to reduce CO2 emissions; procurement services for non-vaccine health products; and quality assurance oversight of procurement systems.

2. Capacity development of national implementing partners

UNDP provides comprehensive capacity assessments of national partners and develops capacity building plans in close coordination with government, donors, civil society, and other stakeholders. The primary areas where UNDP offers capacity building to strengthen health ministries, national health programmes, procurement agencies, medical stores, and other health partners include, among others: (i) project governance and programme management; (ii) financial management & systems; (iii) risk management, internal controls and oversight systems; (iv) financial and programmatic reporting; (v) monitoring and evaluation; (vi) contract management; (vii) health and logistics management information systems; and (viii) human resources. This work is complemented by online guidance and tools, as made available to partners through the UNDP Capacity Development Toolkit.

3. Policy engagement to foster enabling environments for health

UNDP helps governments to create enabling legal and policy frameworks to ensure comprehensive and equitable immunization coverage, as part of broader health systems, with a focus on human rights and gender equality. Its policy engagement aims to achieve health and development goals for vulnerable populations, working at global, regional and country levels, in three interconnected areas: reducing inequalities and social exclusion; promoting effective and inclusive governance for health; and building policy frameworks for resilient and sustainable health systems. Critically, UNDP serves as an integrator for a multi-sectoral response, engaging regularly with and on behalf of government, civil society, international organizations and other partners on a range of policy issues. Specific focus areas of policy engagement, complementary to UNDP’s programme implementation support, include promoting sustainability and transition; legal frameworks to support human rights, gender equality, and health access for key populations; sustainable financing and procurement of health products; anti-corruption initiatives; and promoting good governance for health.  This programme, policy, and capacity development support is buoyed by UNDP’s ability to harness multi-sector expertise through its coordination of development partners within and across countries. UNDP leverages the technical competence of the UN family and other partners, including through support of the UN Resident Coordinator and UN Country Teams. Its broad partnership network and close ties with national governments allows it to facilitate discussions on domestic financing for vaccine programmes for incorporation into national plans and budgets. More broadly, UNDP can support Gavi with joint assessments and other multi-sectoral engagement opportunities to enhance synergies with complementary processes. With its accreditation in March 2024, as a pre-screened partner, UNDP is well-positioned to provide Technical Assistance in support of Gavi’s 2021-2025 Strategy (Gavi 5.0) and COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Activities. This accreditation covers areas such as Demand Promotion, Community Engagement, Gender Equality, Health Information Systems, and Supply Chain Management. Additionally, UNDP also offers effective internal rapid call-off mechanisms as well as comprehensive rosters of technical experts in all health and programme management areas. This ensures the quick deployment of vetted specialists to enable a surge in the capacity of national counterparts and/or to provide specialized technical assistance in operational and policy aspects.

UNDP has had project agreements with Gavi in four countries:

UNDP India established a strong partnership with Gavi, taking lead of a US$38.5 million component of a 2013-2017 grant for implementing eVIN, developing the national M&E framework for immunization, and supporting national research. This agreement was extended to a second phase (2017-2021) to scale eVIN to the rest of the country, supported by up to an additional US$40 million in funding. The grant is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, UNICEF and WHO. UNDP Tajikistan signed an initial US$1.4 million agreement with Gavi in September 2017 for health infrastructure support, which was extended until December 2022. By the end of 2019, UNDP built 10 new medical centres and rehabilitated 6 centres, in partnership with WHO and UNICEF. In 2020-21, it is constructing an additional 13 medical centres and 6 cold storage rooms, and rehabilitating 10 medical centres and 2 warehouses. UNDP’s activities also include the provision of non-medical equipment and the establishment of mobile service at health facilities, along with training of health staff and M&E support. These joint investments with Gavi to improve infrastructure and human resource capacity in Tajikistan will address key bottlenecks identified by the Ministry of Health to achieving and sustaining immunization outcomes. UNDP Zambia was engaged by Gavi in 2018 to provide capacity building to the Ministry of Health in support of its delivery of immunization services to the population. Under the grant, UNDP implemented a financial and programme management mentorship programme for seven District Health Offices, in close cooperation with WHO and UNICEF, with the aim of strengthening core financial management, reporting, and programme management capacities. This directly contributed to improved reporting and better planned activities, as well as more effective programme delivery by minimizing delays in disbursements caused by missing or incomplete reports. UNDP signed an agreement with Gavi to implement a second phase of the strategic mentorship programme in 2020-22, which will build on lessons learnt from the first phase and expand the programme to four additional districts and the Ministry of Health Headquarters.

In 2018, UNDP Indonesia supported the Ministry of Health of Indonesia to pilot the Sistem Monitoring Imunisasi Logistik secara Elektronik, or SMILE, an electronic logistics management information system adapted from the technology used for eVIN in India. Following on the success of the pilot in two districts, UNDP signed an agreement with Gavi in 2019 for US$12 million to support the scale up of SMILE. In 2021-2022, UNDP Mozambique engaged with Gavi to support the national government on policies and SOPs for healthcare waste management This project resulted in the provision for the country of a complete toolkit for a safe management of healthcare waste in Mozambique, composed of: SOPs manual; Terms of Reference for key positions/stakeholders; training package including several training modules. The training sessions allowed five national facilitators to become trainers on the subject, with ability to cascade the training to sub-national level. UNDP’s collaboration with Gavi is grounded in its comparative advantages and tailored to each country context.

It brings unique expertise to the partnership in fostering:

Strengthened national capacity:UNDP has a strong capacity development mandate and extensive experience in supporting governments to strengthen national health systems, including programme management, financial management and internal controls, monitoring and evaluation, governance and oversight, as well as supply chain management systems in areas such as procurement, inventory management, warehousing, distribution of health and non-health products, and health care waste management. UNDP also builds the capacity of civil society organizations, recognizing their critical role in delivering services to the populations most marginalized and hardest to reach, influencing policy and advocating for resources.
Integrated health sector policies and interventions: UNDP’s existing health sector engagement and status as a trusted partner to governments, beyond Ministries of Health, provides a strong building block for ensuring whole-of-government responses to critical health challenges. UNDP currently provides support to health systems in some 60 countries.
Effective regulatory frameworks: UNDP provides support to countries to promote enabling national legal and regulatory frameworks, including the management of intellectual property rights to facilitate equitable access to affordable and essential medicines. UNDP applies a rights-based, gender-transformative approach to improving access.
Accountability and transparency: UNDP employs open and transparent programme management processes. UNDP has been a global leader in transparency and access to documents, and ranks second in the 2018 Aid Transparency Index. Open.undp.org, UNDP’s online portal allows open, comprehensive public access to data on more than 10,000 UNDP projects. UNDP also offers access to all its audit reports, policies, procedures and implementation tools.
Environmental sustainability:UNDP promotes environmentally friendly management of medical waste and use of renewable energy in the supply chain, including solar power. It works with suppliers to promote green production and biodegradable packaging.

Legal and operational framework

To accommodate Gavi, UNDP has obtained an exceptional authorization from its Treasurer to re-invest all interest earned on Gavi’s contributions into the programme. For any new engagement with Gavi, UNDP can draw on previous grant agreements negotiated with Gavi.

To cover its indirect costs, UNDP charges a standard general management support fee (GMS) of 8 percent. The GMS is re-invested into development projects. Among other things, it covers support at the corporate level of the organization, including corporate oversight and assurance (internal audit, investigation and corporate evaluation), financial support/management, information and communication technology (ICT) and administrative management, corporate human resources management, external relations and partnerships, communication and resources mobilization, staff and premises security, field/Country Office oversight, management and operations support.

UNDP offers comprehensive financial and programmatic reporting to Gavi, with well-tested tools and guidance that can be tailored to accommodate Gavi’s requirements if the partnership scales up.  Among other things, UNDP can develop Gavi-specific reporting templates.

UNDP has a robust risk management framework, including tools and processes that can be customized to meet donor requirements and risk assessment needs. Depending on the scale of engagements, UNDP may be able to offer a special audit regime to Gavi, including a centrally-managed audit of sub-recipients of Gavi’s contributions.

Applicability of the 1% Coordination Levy: The 1% coordination levy endorsed by Member States on 31 May 2018 through the United Nations General Assembly resolution 72/279 on the Repositioning of the United Nations development system (paragraph 10) does not apply to contributions from a global vertical fund. The data standard includes Gavi as an example of global vertical funds.

Functional Areas

Project Lifecycle