The Global Fund is choosing its next Executive Director. Your voice matters.

The Global Fund is entering the final stages of selecting its next Executive Director — a decision that will help shape the future of one of the world’s most important institutions in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.

The next Executive Director will take office at an extraordinarily consequential moment for the Global Fund and global health: amid challenging changes in the financing and architecture of global health, increasing pressure on national health systems and communities, and difficult choices about how limited resources are allocated.

The Global Fund’s  Terms of Reference for the Nomination Committee makes clear that its Executive Director (ED) must do much more than manage an organization. The ED is responsible for strategic leadership and delivery as well as  building effective alliances with governments, civil society and communities affected by HIV, TB and malaria.

The candidate profile also calls for someone capable of leading in changing global contexts, with sensitivity to human rights, gender equity and diversity, and with the humility and empathy needed to work with partners from very different backgrounds.

Those aren’t abstract qualities. They will shape decisions affecting millions of people.

The recently released Results Report shows that while impact has largely been sustained, growing and compounding fragility in the system is clearly showing, and there is a lot at stake.

How is the next ED being selected?

The Executive Director Nomination Committee is expected to put forward a shortlist of four or five candidates. Board Members and Alternates will meet the candidates at the Global Fund Board Retreat on 1–2 October, followed by a period of constituency engagement from 3–27 October. The Board is expected to appoint the next Executive Director at its meeting on 28–30 October.

Love a good governance process like us? You can read more details about the process established last year here (July Board document).

There have been some interesting ideas and useful discussions about what a different, and possibly better and more inclusive, process could be, and we as GFAN welcome this as healthy and useful debate. In its current form this process still represents an important opportunity for civil society and communities to engage.

While this selection process belongs to the Global Fund Board, the conversation about what kind of leadership the Global Fund needs belongs to all of us.

How to engage

The Global Fund Board brings together donor and implementing governments, civil society, communities affected by the three diseases, the private sector, foundations and partners. Every Board constituency will have an opportunity to engage with the shortlisted candidates before the decision is made. That means, there are many routes, via Board delegations, for civil society and community voices to be heard!

Many of you, and the organizations you work with, have natural linkages with the 2 NGO Constituencies (Developing Country NGO Delegation and Developed Country NGO Delegation). And for communities of people living with and affected by the three diseases, there is also the Communities Delegation.

Equally as important, if you are based in a country that funds the Global Fund or implements Global Fund programmes, you also have specific government and/or regional representatives at the Global Fund Board. You can engage with them on the kind of leadership you want to see in the next Executive Director.

Tell them what you think the next Executive Director of the Global Fund needs to understand. Tell them what kind of leadership the Global Fund needs at this moment. And tell them what questions you hope that their leadership will ask candidates.

So, what can you do?

Over the coming weeks, GFAN encourages advocates and community partners to contact the Global Fund Board constituencies with which you have relationships — including your government representatives — and tell them what you want to see in the next Executive Director. You can always see the full list of Board Members, Alternates and Focal Points for each constituency here.  

GFAN will also be working to create opportunities for civil society and communities to discuss the leadership the Global Fund needs and the questions we want candidates to answer. The first of these is with our consultation survey! This will help to build a Civil Society and Communities Question Bank that we will share with all constituencies to the Global Fund Board. Your submissions are welcome.

And once the new Executive Director has been selected, we intend to welcome them — and invite them into an early conversation with civil society and communities about the work ahead.

– The GFAN Team