Lesotho Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM)
The Lesotho CCM will be the body overseeing the
implementation of all Global Fund grants to Lesotho. The CCM
has representatives from all of the different sectors
engaged in the HIV and AIDS and TB response in Lesotho. In
order to fulfill its oversight responsibilities, the CCM
will request regular reports from the Principal Recipients
on the implementation of the various grants, including Round
8. The CCM is responsible to ensure that funds are used
according to the objectives of the Global Fund grant. The
CCM is also responsible for ensuring the Global Fund
policies and procedures are followed the the Principal
Recipients. The CCM has the mandate to initiate changes in
the implementation arrangements, including changing
Principal Recipients, if serious problems occur.
Principal Recipient
LCN was nominated as one of two Principal Recipients (PR)
for the Round 8 grant. LCN’s role as a PR is still subject
to confirmation by the Global Fund following the results of
a comprehensive capacity assessment. If LCN is confirmed as
a PR, it will sign a grant agreement with Global Fund for
approximately $14 million US. LCN, through it Board of
Directors, will be accountable to Global Fund for using
these funds to achieve all of the results they were intended
for in the original funding proposal. LCN will need to
create effective partnerships with a number of different
organizations in order to carry out its responsibilities as
a PR. These include Sub-Recipients and Implementing Partners
which are described below.
For guidance and accountability in the implementation of the
PR role, the LCN Board has created the Global Fund Advisory
Committee. The committee will be comprised of stakeholder
representatives from the civil society sector. The role of
the committee will be to assist LCN to administer its
portion of the Global Fund grant in a timely and effective
way. The committee will also have a role in developing
funding priorities, reviewing proposal submissions, and
recommending funding awards.
LCN will also continue to function as a national umbrella
body. It has 150 member organizations located in every
district in Lesotho. LCN will still be providing technical
and programmatic support to its member organizations who
become implementing partners within the Round 8 structure.
Sub-Recipients
Sub-Recipients (SRs) partner with the PR to carry out a
program of work that is part of the Round 8 grant.
Sub-Recipients sign detailed funding agreements with the PR
and become accountable for achieving the results that are
attached to the specific component(s) of the Round 8 grant
that they agree to undertake.
In the Round 8 funding proposal, SRs were selected prior to
the proposal being completed and approved. Although, at the
time, SRs submitted concept notes indicated their areas of
expertise, it was impossible then to specify exactly what
SRs would do once the Round 8 proposal was approved. Now
that there has been final approval of the Round 8 proposal,
the SR roles need to be sorted out between the two PRs, and
the SRs themselves need to proceed through an assessment and
confirmation process. It is up to the PR to designated and
contract with relevant SRs. The CCM plays an oversight role
in this respect ensuring that SRs are selected and qualified
according to Global Fund policies and procedures.
LCN has designated four SRs from the original list of six.
They are Catholic Relief Services, Population Services
International, LENEPWHA and ALAFA. LCN has asked the SRs to
undertake three specific functions that are part of the
Round 8 grant:
- Implementation of Specific Programmatic Elements
The non-governmental component of the Round 8 grant
contains specific programs for target populations. These
include prevention interventions for out-of-school
youth, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), people with
disabilities, commercial sex workers and herd boys.
There are also interventions to involve people living
with HIV in community level prevention activities. In
the proposed SR arrangements, LCN has assigned these and
other programmatic elements to different SRs based on
their technical expertise and their current
relationships to the target groups.
- Technical Support to Umbrella Bodies
The Round 8 grant provides support for the development
of program management units within three national
umbrella bodies who are main stakeholders in HIV & AIDS.
It also provides for the creation of a new umbrella body
focusing on HIV & AIDS within the business and labour
sectors. The support includes human resources, furniture
and equipment, a vehicle, and program running costs. The
purpose of this support is to significantly strengthen
the capacity of umbrella bodies to support the needs of
their member organizations for capacity development and
for effective program implementation at the community
level. SRs will provide technical support to an umbrella
body that is linked to them for the scale-up of program
management capacity.
- Technical Support to Implementing Partners
The term implementing partner refers to
individual organizations that receive support for
specific projects they wish to carry out at national,
district or local level. The Round 8 grant provides a
number of different opportunities for project funding
for non-governmental responses to HIV & AIDS. It is
proposed that project funding be managed similar to the
approach used by NAC. In this approach, umbrella bodies
solicit proposals from their membership and then submit
one consolidated request. The consolidated proposal is
reviewed and funding awards made based on the funding
program criteria. Grants are then awarded to umbrella
bodies for the implementation of the approved projects.
The umbrella body is then required to provide technical
support to these partners and to supervise the
implementation of funded projects.
In the Round 8 implementation framework, SRs will work
with umbrella bodies to ensure that capacity is
developed to support and monitor the funded projects
carried out by implementing partners at the local level.
In the case of LENEPHWA, the arrangement will be
different. LENEPWHA will engage a technical support partner
to work with it during the implementation of its Global Fund
activities. LCN and LENEPHWA are currently in discussion on
the identification of an appropriate partner.
Implementing Partners
Implementing partners are local or international
organizations that apply for and receiving funding from the
Round 8 grant. The funds will support projects aligned with
the different priorities for HIV & AIDS that are set out in
the Round 8 grant. Implementing partners should, for the
most part, be affiliated with a relevant umbrella body where
they can receive programmatic and technical support if
required during the implementation of their projects. In
some cases, implementing partners will not be affiliated
with an umbrella body and will be funded and monitored
directly by the SR.
As noted above, LCN is itself an umbrella body and will be
providing support to its member organizations who
successfully become implementing partners.
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