Health Focus was selected as pre-qualified supplier of management consulting services for the Western and Central African region in the following areas:

• To improve governance and oversight processes for Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs);
• To provide grant management support by enhancing the Secretariat’s capacity to assist in diagnosis, when grant implementation issues have been detected. Diagnostic analyses of grant implementation challenges and resulting remedial action plans will help the Secretariat to leverage support from partners, and direct partners to identified technical and management assistance needs; and
• To analyze and document case studies of innovative country partnerships, including, but not limited to, co-investment schemes, harmonization and alignment experiences, or CCM functions that provide examples of best emerging practices or offer models to share among partners.

Assignments within the framework contract included:

• Implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Strengthening Tool (MESS) – Facilitation of stakeholder workshop in Djibouti, Egypt and Guinea-Bissau: To provide assistance in facilitating and providing technical support to a stakeholder workshop for implementation of the MESS for the HIV/AIDS Global Fund grant in Djibouti (06-07/2008), in Egypt (12/2009) and for the Malaria and HIV/AIDS Global Fund grants in Guinea Bissau (12/2009): liaising with the respective GF staff (i.e., Fund Portfolio Manager and M&E) as well as with the Country Coordination Mechanisms, Principal Recipients or other entities organizing the workshop prior to the meeting; facilitating the workshop, and consolidation of the findings in the final M&E Systems Strengthening Tool, that is designed to promote alignment behind the M&E strategies and plans for the health sector overall, as well as those for specific disease control programmes.
• Development of CCM Performance Framework, West and Central Africa (05-08/2009): participating at the expert consultation to develop a first draft of the CCM performance framework, reviewing CCM roles and functions as expressed in the CCM Guidelines for continuing relevance and to incorporate lessons learned, field testing the draft CCM performance framework developed (in Burkina Faso), participating in a follow-up teleconference for finalization of the performance framework at the invitation of the CCM team.
• Bilateral Case Studies in DR Congo, Chad and Togo (01-03/2010) with the objectives (i) to provide best practices of bilateral engagement in five thematic areas as per the Global Fund Partnership Strategy (Governance, Representation and Oversight; Technical Assistance; Harmonization and Alignment; Policy and Advocacy; and Communication and Information Sharing) in order to assist in the Global Fund replenishment process and; inform discussions around funding priorities of donors and division of labour of TA providers in selected countries, a platform from which partners and the Global Fund can work towards “eliminating duplication of efforts and rationalizing activities to make them as cost-effective as possible”; (ii) to provide an in dept review of the role of partners in mitigating drug stock outs and treatment disruptions in Global Fund supported programmes in order to better understand how to harness the comparative advantage of partners to avoid drug stock outs and treatment disruptions; and document lessons learned which can be shared with other countries.
• Strengthening CCM Gabon - CCM oversight dashboard tool implementation in Gabon (03/2011): The objectives included (i) Ensuring that members of the CCM gain a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities with respect to oversight of their grants; (ii) Introducing the grant oversight tool (dashboard) to the CCM through the completion of a dashboard and enabling CCM members and Secretariat staff to gain a better understanding of the various processes, communication pathways, and access to resources to support the implementation of the oversight tool and oversight functions; (iii) Ensuring that an oversight action plan is developed by the CCM.
• Technical support to strengthen CCM Kosovo (01/2012): mediation between different stakeholders, guiding the selection of members of a new CCM, review of governance documents with focus on conflicts of interest. Objectives included (i) assessing the effectiveness of the CCM’s existing governance structures and processes including the conflict of interest policy in light of the revised CCM Guidelines; (ii) Ensuring members of the CCM gain a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities, particularly with respect to governance and oversight in satisfying the requirements of the revised CCM Guidelines with an emphasis on the eligibility criteria; (iii) Assisting the CCM members in planning out the necessary steps and producing the required documents to improve their governance and oversight, and in particular the CCM Statute including PR selection provisions, COI Policy and the Oversight Plan.

• Technical assistance and advisory services;
• Selection and mobilisation of the consultant teams;
• Technical and administrative backstopping;
• Project management.
• Liaising with the Global Fund staff (i.e., Fund Portfolio Manager) as well as with the Country Coordination Mechanisms, Principal Recipients or other entities involved in Global Fund procedures and processes in the respective country;
• Holding detailed discussions with Fund Portfolio Manager (FPM), Program Officer and members of the CCM Task force team prior to, and throughout the consultancy;
• Designing appropriate agenda/work plan for the technical support consultancy, review existing documents;
• Workshop facilitation and consolidation of the findings in the final M&E Systems Strengthening Tool or Dashboard Tool;
• Carrying out the case studies on the pre-defined criteria.
• Producing and submitting contract deliverables.