Study Details

Are funding decisions based on performance?

Author(s)

Oomman N.  Rosenzweig S.  Bernstein M. 

Date

May 2010
Reference

None 

Web Link

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Organisation

Center for Global Development (CGD)
Keywords

PEPFAR, World Bank MAP, Global Fund, performance-based funding, governance
Study Type

Report
Aims

To better understand the relationship between funding decisions by PEPFAR, the World Bank MAP, and the Global Fund and performance-based achievements in Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia.
Methods

Desk review of donor documents; interviews with donor and government officials, funding recipients, and other stakeholders in each country using purposive sampling.

Findings

Each of the three GHIs has performance-based (PB) targets linked to outputs, but each GHIs reporting system duplicates data to varying degrees creating a risk of double-counting (and thus inflating) positive results.

  • The MAP is most aligned with national priorities, but overall the increase in donor-specific targets is a heavy burden for the three countries.
  • PEPFAR has the most accurate and reliable data-collection system. Unlike Global Fund, however, PEPFAR does not always document its funding decisions clearly.
  • The Global Funds performance data is more transparent than the other GHIs, but also less accurate.
  • Whereas Global Fund systematically links funding decisions to performance, neither MAP nor PEPFAR make such a link. Like PEPFAR, the MAP does not document funding decisions or release data about its grants.
Conclusions /
Recommendations

  • Following the Global Funds lead, all GHIs should try to report results without attribution to one particular GHI
  • Establish common national outcome targets to which all stakeholders will commit and regularly collect data
  • Baseline data needs to be collected, and time-intervals agreed for data collection
  • Output targets of donors individual grants need to be linked to national outcome targets
  • Performance metrics must be grounded in measureable and collectable data
  • Improve donor-specific data collection systems with simultaneous inputs to strengthen the national health information systems, and move away donor-specific systems to rely increasingly on strengthened national reporting systems
The Report also provides detailed recommendations for each of the three GHIS

Sponsored by DFID, Danida, Irish Aid