Our mandate
France, the second largest historical contributor to the Global Fund after the United States, has launched L'Initiative in 2011 to improve the effectiveness of its grants and strengthen the health impact of the programs it finances. L'Initiative is a facility implemented by Expertise France and complementary to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Our mandate is to support beneficiary countries in the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of funding allocated by the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Funded by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, L'Initiative helps to ensure an effective response to pandemics and health systems. It is committed to building the capacity of civil society structures, national programs and regional organizations. It mobilizes expertise from France and French-speaking countries adapted to the needs of eligible countries and represents a bilateral approach to aid within the context of France's contribution to multilateral funds, thereby enhancing the visibility of French interventions.
L'Initiative is steered by a steering committee comprising members of civil society, research, the French Red Cross, and representatives of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, and the French Development Agency (AFD).
Since its inception, L'Initiative has established itself as a key player in the fight against pandemics. It will be stepping up its efforts in 2020-2022 to better fulfil its missions and maximize its impact.
As an indirect French contribution to the Global Fund, L'Initiative is entrusted each year with a proportion of France's contribution to the Global Fund, i.e. an average of 25 million euros per year over the triennium 2017-2019. Following the 6th Replenishment Conference in Lyon in October 2019, L'Initiative's overall budget has increased considerably, to nearly 39 million euros annually for the period 2020-2022
New terms of reference were signed in early 2020 between the MEAE and Expertise France. They formalize some important changes: its allocation has increased to 9% of the French contribution to the Global Fund, its scope of intervention has been refocused on 40 eligible countries and its mechanisms are being deployed closer to the challenges and needs (planned technical assistance, resident expertise, extended duration of funding).
To intensify its work, particularly where the challenges are greatest within eligible countries, L'Initiative has adopted a new strategy focused on future solutions. Our intervention modalities are adapted to the challenges of tomorrow. We are strengthening our support mechanisms and improving the planning of technical assistance, so that it can be implemented over the necessary timeframe and with a fine-tuned, individualized approach. At the same time, we support NGOs, research institutes, and national programs, particularly in the development of innovative approaches, experiments, and pilot projects designed to change health practices and policies.
In 10 years, L’Initiative has established itself as a key mechanism in France’s strategy to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. A reputed facility among its peers and partners, L’Initiative uses all its energy to bring technical assistance and support to transformative projects in French-speaking countries. Our goal: access to health for all, and the elimination of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pandemics.