Soon after the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2002, countries seeking grant funding organized Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs). Acting as a governing body, each country’s CCM develops and submits funding requests to the Global Fund and provides important oversight during grant implementation.
While CCM membership varies by country, the Global Fund requires that members be persons who represent constituencies from the public and private sectors and development organizations, as well as persons living with and/or affected by the three diseases. Currently, there are approximately 120 CCMs in the world with 3,800 members who oversee nearly $4 billion in grant funds annually. Being a CCM member is a huge responsibility!
Surprisingly, many CCM members begin their tenure without truly understanding what the CCM is and what they are supposed to do as members.
Oftentimes, CCMs request technical support from development partners to orient new CCM members. In the past, consultants assigned to orient CCMs did not have access to standard orientation materials that could be adapted to each country´s CCM. Orientation materials had to be re-invented each time. I myself was one of those consultants.
In response to the clear need for uniform CCM member orientation materials, the USAID-funded Leadership, Management, and Governance (LMG) Project began to develop the CCM Orientation Program in 2016. The program was developed in partnership with the Global Fund, the USAID-funded Grant Management Solutions (GMS) Project, and other development partners, including GIZ, HIV/AIDS Alliance, UNDP and France Expertise.
The CCM Orientation Program consists of three tiers or stages, as illustrated below:
Tier 1 – Introductory Briefing
Tier 1 is a half-day, face-to-face meeting for CCM members whereby the CCM Orientation Program is explained to the CCM members by the Chair and CCM secretariat staff.
Tier 2 – eLearning Modules
Following Tier 1, CCM members participate in Tier 2, which comprises the eLearning section of the program, with 16 e-learning modules:
- Eight core modules focus on what the Global Fund is, how it operates, the functions of the CCM, and expectations of CCM members.
- Six thematic modules are on the topics of gender; key populations; human rights; community systems and response; resilient and sustainable systems for health and climate change; and health.
- Two committee modules provide information on the work of the Executive and Oversight Committees and are completed by members of these committees.
At his/her own pace, each CCM member completes all eight core modules and one or two thematic modules (the Global Fund Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland recommends to each CCM which thematic modules will be completed by a specific CCM). The modules can be completed on the Global Fund iLearn platform or downloaded from there. The platform is open to everyone, whether or not a CCM member, after registration.
Tier 3 – Face-to-Face Training
Once all CCM members have completed the Tier 2 eLearning, Tier 3 begins when CCM members participate in a two-day, face-to-face training, facilitated by a trained consultant and/or CCM secretariat staff member. In addition, Executive and Oversight Committee members each participate in face-to-face training lasting 1.5 to 2 days.
CCM Orientation Program Resources
Facilitator Guides: To support consultants or CCM secretariat staff who will facilitate Tiers 1 and 3, the LMG Project developed five facilitator guides, shown below.
Once the facilitator guides were completed, GMS and the LMG Project trained consultants to support CCMs as facilitators of this standard CCM Orientation Program. These consultants are now working as Global Fund facilitators to roll out the program.
Languages: The LMG Project delivered the CCM Orientation Program in English and French to the Global Fund in early 2017. Portuguese and Spanish versions will be available in September 2017.
All of the facilitator guides and eLearning modules can be found on the Global Fund iLearn platform.
Improved governance: As CCM members complete the orientation program, I look forward to seeing CCM members govern more effectively, assuring:
- funding requests to the Global Fund are aligned with national strategic plans and focus on key and vulnerable populations
- appropriate oversight of Global Fund grant performance to ensure approved grants reach their testing and treatment targets.