Differentiation Approach

The Global Fund uses the Differentiation Approach, in a bid to respond more effectively to the diverse range of contexts where its grants are implemented. 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; risks and other.

There are three portfolio categories:

• Focused Portfolios are generally smaller portfolios, with a lower disease burden, and a lower mission risk.
• Core Portfolios are generally larger portfolios, with a higher disease burden, and a higher mission risk.
• High Impact Portfolios are generally very large portfolios with mission-critical disease burdens.

The list of countries in each of these categories is updated every allocation period based on the allocation amount, the disease burden, and opportunity for strategic impact of the country.

As part of the differentiation the Global Fund took a decision in prior funding cycles to move Focused countries to the annual reporting schedule. This is still the case in GC7.

The Global Fund also uses two cross-cutting classifications to further differentiate portfolios:

• Challenging Operating Environments are countries or regions with complex natural or man-made crises and instability.

• Transitioning components are those that are approaching transition from receiving funding from the Global Fund. A country becomes ineligible for Global Fund financing when its income level designation moves to High Income, or when it has an Upper-Middle-Income designation, and the disease burden is not High.

Any changes to portfolio categorization for the 2023-2025 allocation period will be published in the Applicant Handbook and the Global Fund’s Operational Policy Manual.

Differentiated approach for Challenging Operating Environments (COEs)

According to the Global Fund GC7 indicator guidance, flexibilities may apply to grants in the COE contexts. Different flexibilities in terms of indicator selection, reporting deadlines and verification approaches can be considered depending on the situation. It is important to note that COE flexibilities are not a predefined list of options or eligibilities. To request specific flexibilities CTs will need to provide the required justification. This can best be done through a dialogue between the CT and PRs and an agreement on what is important and feasible to measure. Based on this, respective bodies at the Global Fund.

According to the Global Fund guidance, the requirement for indicator inclusion depending on the indicator group described in the sections Performance Framework and Indicator Selection does not apply to COEs. The Performance Framework for COE portfolios may be tailored to the context and simplified (i.e., include a limited number of indicators, in line with the Performance Framework simplification guidelines for the Focused portfolios or work plan tracking measures).

In practice, there are instances where COE countries have excessive numbers of indicators in their Performance Frameworks due to the pressure to include Group 1 indicators. Case-by-case discussions are needed. Refer to your Global Fund PHM&E and/or GFPHST M&E Specialist in case of specific concern.

Differentiated approach for Focused countries in GC7

Based on a holistic set of criteria including allocation size, allocation focus, in-country capacities and political context, in consultation with in-country and Global Fund stakeholders, each Focused portfolio is designated a specific model type.

There are four model types – Aligned, Targeted, Light and Legacy. Each type is described in-depth under the Global Fund page on Focused Portfolio Management Models. The Allocation Letter informs Focused portfolios of their model for the 2023-2025 Period.

See the sections Performance Framework and Indicator Selection for further information on the application of the differentiated approach.