In a bid to respond more effectively to the diverse range of contexts where its grants are implemented, the Global Fund has developed a framework for a new differentiated approach for the 2017-2019 funding cycle.  

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.

Under this approach Global Fund recipient countries have been divided into three categories as follows:

• 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 will have 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) submission; 3) frequency of disbursements; 4) timing/frequency of reprogramming submissions; and 5) flexibilities on budget adjustments.