Working Together, Sharing Responsibility
According to the decisions made during the initial meetings of the HLF Steering and Grants Committees, members are expected to act in a spirit of collaboration and collective responsibility. No member shall assume a role that enables unilateral decision-making or disregards the voices and perspectives of others. All decisions should be made transparently, inclusively, and in alignment with agreed-upon processes of the respective Terms of References.
Decisions in the HLF, from Strategy to Grants
The HLF Steering Committee shapes the HLF’s strategic framework, ensures alignment with its global values and vision, and defines and sharpens the HLF as locally led fund.
The HLF Grants Committee supports the development and oversight of the HLF grant review and approval process – ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability – and decides on the final projects to be funded.
According to the decision of the first HLF Grants Committee Meeting, the HLF Grants Committee will apply an Anonymized Review Process for the assessment of grant proposals, with the following goals: to ensure fairness, impartiality and neutrality; to prevent and minimise conscious and unconscious bias; to protect the integrity of the grant review and approval process; to promote diversity and inclusion.
The anonymous approach is intended to:
- ensure that decisions are made solely based on merit, relevance and alignment with the established strategic priorities, based on the quality of the proposed projects—rather than on the applicant’s identity or reputation.
- foster greater equity, support diversity of voices, and strengthen the integrity of the grants process.
It is a deliberate measure to create a level playing field for all applicants, particularly those from underrepresented or less-established organisations.
The HLF Grants Committee retains full discretion to decline a grant application or not to proceed with funding an organisation taking into account the established criteria under the HLF and/or available resources.
The Anonymised Review Process
The HLF Secretariat will organise the grants review process into distinct stages:
Stage 1 (Conflict of Interest): Following HLF Registration and Due Diligence Phase—and prior to individual scoring and in-person Grants Review Meetings—all Grants Committee members/reviewers are required to declare any conflicts of interest for the longlist of organisations.
Stage 2 (Briefing): The HLF Secretariat provides a briefing on the Anonymised Review Process and an introduction to anonymous scoring on the HLF Platform.
Stage 3 (Individual and Anonymized Scoring prior to the Grants Review Meeting): The six reviewers receive access to anonymised proposals and score them independently on the HLF Platform using the HLF Project Selection Scorecard.
Stage 4 (Grants Review Meetings, Discussion): The six reviewers discuss the proposals one by one during the in-person Grants Review Meetings; applicant identities remain anonymised.
Stage 5 (Grants Review Meetings, Decisions): The Grants Committee members/reviewers make the final decisions on which grants will be funded, from among all grants that were presented to the Committee.
Stage 6 (Grants Review Meetings, Unmask Identity of Partners): The HLF Secretariat reveals the identities of selected partners only after final funding decisions have been made. No changes will be made post-reveal—except in the case of a clear error, conflict of interest, or reputational risk. In such cases, the Grants Committee will reconvene to reassess the affected decision and, if necessary, adjust the outcome to ensure alignment with the HLF’s integrity and accountability standards.
Stage 7 (Grants Review Meetings, Feedback to Unselected Organisations): The Grants Committee consolidates reviewer comments on unsuccessful proposals and provides clear reasons for non-selection to help applicants strengthen future submissions.
Listening to Local Voices, Responding with Accountability
In line with its commitment to localisation, transparency, and equitable partnerships, the HLF Grants Committee places a strong emphasis on clear and consistent accountability to local and national actors engaging with its processes. This includes both organisations that register for participation but are not shortlisted, as well as those that apply for funding but are not selected.
Here is how the HLF will provide feedback throughout the process:
- Individual feedback reports prepared by due diligence experts following the HLF Due Diligence Phase.
- A publicly available document, that transparently exposes the reasons for non-selection after the HLF Registration and Due Diligence Phase and announces the number of organisations moving to the HLF Dialogue Phase.
- Specific feedback for organisations non-selected after the HLF Dialogue Phase.
- Customised feedback for all organisations during the HLF Proposal Development Phase.
- Tailored feedback from the HLF Grants Committee for both selected and non-selected proposals in the Grants Review Meeting.
These efforts aim to foster learning, support organisational development, and ensure that all registering organisations or applicants—selected or not—benefit from the process.
