The new guidelines were updated to incorporate new operational developments since the last publication.
These guidelines were drafted based on the Global Fund’s financials control requirements and aims to:
The key updates incorporated into these guidelines cover the following areas:
- Sustainability and cost effectiveness of proposals
- Financial principles: assignment of financial commitments and financial obligations when moving from one allocation period to the next. Please note you were communicated the Allocation Utilization Periods for your country’s portfolios in your Allocation Letter last year. All funds available during an Allocation Period need to be approved, budgeted and completed within the defined Allocation Utilization Period– please see the FAQ on the Transition between Allocation Utilization Periods, for further details
- Treatment of in-country cash balance: guidance on the treatment of in-country cash balances at grant signing
- Foreign exchange: management of foreign exchange issues and payment currencies, and impact on budgeting
- Treatment of salary top-ups and incentives: clear indication that such costs are not generally eligible and will be allowed only in exceptional cases, where they should be justified and approved by the Global Fund as part of the budget approval process;
- Financial reporting: required at the cost input level for Core and High Impact countries, aligned budgeting and reporting requirements for Focused Countries
- Budgeting: more detailed guidance for specific budget cost categories, documents recommended to support budget assumptions
- Budget revisions: changes in approval requirements for material budget changes indirect cost recovery for local NGOs: providing flexibility for the charging of indirect cost recovery by local Non-Governmental Organizations, with Global Fund funding only with an offsetting reduction in direct costs;
- Eligibility of grant expenditures: definition of non-compliant expenditure aligned with the Office of the Inspector General and guidance on the recovery process
- Insurance related costs: guidance on the tracking on the insurance related costs
- More detailed guidance on investments in facilities/infrastructure renovation and construction
The Budgeting Guidelines are available on the Global Fund external website. The FAQ specifically on the Transition between Allocation Utilization Periods can also be found on our website. The French, Spanish and Russian versions of these documents will be available in August 2017.
