The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has announced that it awarded a record $8.54 billion in grants in 2020 in support of HIV, TB, and malaria programs and to strengthen public health systems around the globe.

Of the $12.71 billion available for grant allocations in its current three-year funding cycle (2020-22), the fund had approved $8.9 billion for 2020. But faced with a raging global pandemic, the fund's Secretariat accelerated its grantmaking efforts and exceeded its original target, ultimately approving $9.2 billion in 2020 funding. As of the end of December, $8.54 billion in approved grants had been signed, with two countries still in the process of signing finalized grant agreements totaling $660 million. By comparison, at this point in its 2017-19 funding cycle, the fund had signed $5.2 billion in grants out of a total allocation of $10.3 billion.

Over the past twelve months, the Global Fund has supported the efforts of implementing partners and country coordinating mechanisms to develop detailed funding requests for programs addressing HIV, TB, and malaria at the country level. Once the fund and an implementing partner sign a grant, implementation of the program can begin.

"Even in the midst of a new global pandemic, during an extraordinarily challenging year, the Global Fund partnership has supported countries to develop grants more quickly and effectively than ever before," said Global Fund board chair Donald Kaberuka. "A record-breaking 67 percent of grants for the 2020-22 funding cycle have now been signed, compared to 50 percent of grants signed at the same time in the last funding cycle, representing a remarkable increase in performance."