The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was founded in 2002 to mobilize large-scale donor resources for the specific purpose of reducing infections, illness and death caused by the three diseases. The Global Fund has since become the largest of the 120 global and regional partnership programs in which the World Bank is currently involved, disbursing more than $3 billion in grants to developing and transition economies in 2010.

The World Bank plays three major roles in the Global Fund: (a) as the trustee of donor contributions to the Global Fund, (b) in the corporate governance of the program, and (c) as a development partner at the global and country levels.

This new IEG report, Review of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Bank's Engagement with the Global Fund, is based on the Five-Year Evaluation of the Global Fund that was commissioned by the Global Fund and completed in May 2009.  The review assesses the independence and quality of that evaluation, validates its major findings, and reviews the extent and nature of the World Bank's engagement with the Global Fund at the global and country levels since the Global Fund was founded.