L’Initiative’s original mission is to support those involved in the fight against pandemics in eligible countries with the help of France’s development aid and the Global Fund. This support aims to contribute to the eradication of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in their countries. The objective of technical assistance is to support beneficiaries in the submission of quality funding applications to the Global Fund and to improve the efficiency and usefulness of those grants pending evaluation.
In countries that are eligible for L’Initiative’s support, all those who already benefit from programs funded by the Global Fund can receive technical assistance through the Expertise Channel. The list established by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs particularly emphasizes French-speaking regions and the regional coherence of France’s action toward global health in the fight against pandemics.
Within eligible countries, any stakeholder who participates in the fight against pandemics is entitled to technical assistance. These stakeholders include country coordination mechanisms (CCMs), principal recipients, sub-recipients and sub-sub-recipients of Global Fund grants, public administrations and organizations, research institutes, civil society or private sector societies fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
A regional request is possible if submitted by a sole entity – e.g. a regional coordination mechanism – and if all countries involved in the request are eligible for L’Initiative.
Technical assistance missions bring the necessary expertise to stakeholders engaged in the fight against pandemics all year round in eligible countries. The requests should be submitted through the country’s French embassy. It is subsequently transferred to the French agency for technical cooperation: Expertise France. Most assistance missions take place in the short and medium term to quickly fulfill our partners’ needs.
Through its Expertise Channel, L’Initiative can mobilize multiple skills. The objective is to provide structured responses, propose tailored technical strategies elaborated in a collegial manner, and strengthen the capacities of local, regional, and national stakeholders involved in the fight against the three pandemics.
The nature of the requested support and expertise depends on the Global Funds funding cycle: country dialogue facilitation, strategic plan writing, funding application preparation and implementation, strategic monitoring, etc.
In the countries that represent a priority for France’s public development aid, interventions can take the shape of advanced support. A strategic planification of needs, done beforehand with beneficiary countries, allows for the elaboration of this type of planned technical assistance.
The Project Management Unit (PMU) of Chad’s Ministry of Public Health receives support from L’Initiative to better manage the Global Fund’s and other financial partners’ grants. This support allowed the Ministry to become the Global Fund’s principal recipient. It helped us fulfill our sovereign mission, and we were able to provide the population with medical care. The strengthening of the PMU guarantees efficiency in the management of our projects to reach patients all across the country.
