Global Fund Chief Quits After Funding Cuts

The executive director of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria said Tuesday he will step down in March. With five years on the job, Michel Kazatchkine has led the fund for half its existence.

The announcement caps a turbulent 2011 for the fund. In March, it commissioned a procedural review after reporting “grave misuse of funds” in four recipient nations. That announcement prompted donors like Germany and Sweden to freeze their Global Fund contributions. Then in November, the fund said it could not make any new grants or funding until 2014. Until then, any low- or middle-income countries funded under grants set to expire can apply for emergency maintenance money to bridge the gap.

The Global Fund also announced it was bringing in a new general manager, Gabriel Jaramillo. The Brazilian former banker was a member of the investigative panel tasked last year with assessing the fund’s fiduciary controls and oversight and making recommendations for improving the way donors’ money is managed.

In a statement, Jaramillo said his “priorities at the Global Fund are to achieve maximum efficiency, accountability and concrete results that save lives.” “In essence, we will start with a reorganization that emphasizes simplicity, discipline and rigor, with grant management as the core activity of the institution,” he said.

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