Global development funds are organisations that channel funding to some of the poorest countries in the world to support specific development objectives in areas like health, education and the environment.
Among the largest are the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the Global Partnership for Education (formerly the Education for All Fast Track Initiative) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).
Working with global funds offers a number of advantages. Firstly, by pooling bilateral resources to work across a wide range of countries, the funds can achieve economies of scale as well as greater market influence. The funds also work in more countries than DFID would reach if we acted on our own. Bringing together different stakeholders – from donors, recipients, the private sector, civil society organisations and other multilaterals – into a partnership, also allows the global funds to successfully share knowledge and innovation.
The structure of most funds means that donors like DFID are represented on the main decision-making board, and in various sub-committees which develop policy and plans for the funds. DFID teams also work closely with the secretariats for the global funds.
GAVI and GFATM came out as very good value for money in the UK Government's multilateral aid review, with GPE and UNITAID also performing well and assessed as good value for money.
However, the MAR also identified how these organisations can further improve delivery and effectiveness.
We will be ensuring the global funds continue to improve their performance by monitoring progress against agreed priority issues, and by stepping up engagement with other donor partners, country recipients and civil society organisations.
The GAVI Alliance was established to improve immunisation coverage (through new and underused vaccines) in the world's poorest countries. It is a public-private partnership that brings together governments, UN Agencies, foundations, the private sector and vaccine manufacturers to increase both access and affordability of vaccinations.
GFATM is a global public-private partnership that raises and disburses funds to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Since its creation, GFATM has become the biggest multilateral funder of programmes that tackle health related MDGs. It has approved $21.7 billion (USD) of new support since 2002.
GPE is a partnership between donors, developing countries and civil society which aims to ensure that any low income country with a credible education sector plan should not be prevented from implementing their plan through lack of financing. The GPE provides both policy and financing support.
The mission of UNITAID is to scale up access to treatment for poor people by engaging in commodity markets to reduce prices, improve quality and increase and accelerate the supply of key diagnostics and medicines for the poor.
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Five-month-old Mohamed Kamara gets his second dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine thanks to the GAVI Alliance. Picture: Doune Porter/GAVI Alliance