§ 5563. FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY FUND FOR PANDEMIC PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS, AND RESPONSE.
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In General.— Finding .— Congress finds that the Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (referred to in this section as the ‘Fund’) was established in September 2022 by donor countries, relevant United Nations agencies, including the World Health Organization, and other key multilateral stakeholders as a multilateral, catalytic financing mechanism for pandemic prevention and preparedness. Objectives .— The objectives of the Fund are— closing critical gaps in pandemic prevention and preparedness; and working with, and building the capacity of, eligible partner countries in the areas of global health security, infectious disease control, and pandemic prevention and preparedness in order to— prioritize capacity building and financing availability in eligible partner countries; incentivize countries to prioritize the use of domestic resources for global health security and pandemic prevention and preparedness; leverage governmental, nongovernmental, and private sector investments; regularly respond to and evaluate progress based on clear metrics and benchmarks, such as those developed through the IHR
(2005)Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the Global Health Security Index; align with and complement ongoing bilateral and multilateral efforts and financing, including through the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and help countries accelerate and achieve compliance with the International Health Regulations
(2005)and fulfill the Global Health Security Agenda 2024 Framework not later than 8 years after the date on which the Fund is established, in coordination with the ongoing Joint External Evaluation national action planning process. Governing board.— In general .— The Fund should be governed by a transparent, representative, and accountable body (referred to in this section as the ‘Governing Board’), which should— function as a partnership with, and through full engagement by, donor governments, eligible partner countries, and independent civil society; and be composed of not more than 25 representatives of governments, foundations, academic institutions, independent civil society, indigenous people, vulnerable communities, frontline health workers, and the private sector with demonstrated commitment to carrying out the purposes of the Fund and upholding transparency and accountability requirements. Duties .— The Governing Board should— be charged with approving strategies, operations, and grant making authorities such that it is able to conduct effective fiduciary, monitoring, and evaluation efforts, and other oversight functions; determine operational procedures to enable the Fund to effectively fulfill its mission; provide oversight and accountability for the Fund in collaboration with a qualified and independent Inspector General; develop and utilize a mechanism to obtain formal input from eligible partner countries, independent civil society, and implementing entities relative to program design, review, and implementation and associated lessons learned; and coordinate and align with other multilateral financing and technical assistance activities, and with the activities of the United States and other nations leading pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response activities in partner countries, as appropriate. Composition .— The Governing Board should include— representatives of the governments of founding member countries who, in addition to meeting the requirements under subparagraph (A), qualify based upon— meeting an established initial contribution threshold, which should be not less than 10 percent of the country’s total initial contributions; and demonstrating a commitment to supporting the International Health Regulations (2005); a geographically diverse group of members from donor countries, academic institutions, independent civil society, including faith-based and indigenous organizations, and the private sector who are selected on the basis of their experience and commitment to innovation, best practices, and the advancement of global health security objectives; and representatives of the World Health Organization, to serve in an observer status. Contributions .— Each government or private sector foundation or for-profit entity represented on the Governing Board should agree to make annual contributions to the Fund in an amount that is not less than the minimum amount determined by the Governing Board. Qualifications .— Individuals appointed to the Governing Board should have demonstrated knowledge and experience across a variety of sectors, including human and animal health, agriculture, development, defense, finance, research, and academia. Conflicts of interest .— All Governing Board members should be required to recuse themselves from matters presenting conflicts of interest, including financing decisions relating to such countries, bodies, and institutions. Removal procedures .— The Fund should establish procedures for the removal of members of the Governing Board who— engage in a consistent pattern of human rights abuses; fail to uphold global health data transparency requirements; or otherwise violate the established standards of the Fund, including in relation to corruption. Authority for United States Participation.— Founding member .— The United States is authorized to participate in the Fund and shall be represented on the Governing Board by an officer or employee of the United States Government who has been appointed by the President (referred in this section as the ‘FIF Representative’). Effective date; termination date .— Effective date .— This subsection shall take effect on the date on which the Secretary of State submits to Congress a certified copy of the agreement establishing the Fund. Termination date .— The membership authorized under paragraph
(1)shall terminate on the date on which the Fund is terminated. Enforceability .— Any agreement concluded under the authorities provided under this subsection shall be legally effective and binding upon the United States, in accordance with the terms of the agreement— upon the enactment of appropriate implementing legislation that provides for the approval of the specific agreement or agreements, including attachments, annexes, and supporting documentation, as appropriate; or if concluded and submitted as a treaty, upon the approval by the Senate of the resolution of ratification of such treaty. Implementation of Program Objectives .— In carrying out the objectives described in subsection (a)(2), the Fund should work to eliminate duplication and waste by upholding strict transparency and accountability standards and coordinating its programs and activities with key partners working to advance pandemic prevention and preparedness. Priority Countries .— In providing assistance under this section, the Fund should give priority to low- and lower middle-income countries with— low scores on the Global Health Security Index classification of health systems; measurable gaps in global health security and pandemic prevention and preparedness identified under the IHR
(2005)Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and national action plans for health security; demonstrated political and financial commitment to pandemic prevention and preparedness; and demonstrated commitment to— upholding global health budget and data transparency and accountability standards; complying with the International Health Regulations (2005); investing in domestic health systems; and achieving measurable results. Accountability; Conflicts of Interest; Criteria for Programs .— The FIF Representative shall— take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that the Fund will have in effect adequate procedures and standards to account for and monitor the use of funds contributed to the Fund, including the cost of administering the Fund, by— engaging Fund stakeholders; and actively promoting transparency and accountability of Fund governance and operations; seek to ensure there is agreement to put in place a conflict of interest policy to ensure fairness and a high standard of ethical conduct in the Fund’s decision-making processes, including proactive procedures to screen staff for conflicts of interest and measures to address any conflicts, such as— potential divestments of interests; prohibition from engaging in certain activities; recusal from certain decision-making and administrative processes; and representation by an alternate board member; and seek agreement on the criteria that should be used to determine the programs and activities that should be assisted by the Fund. Selection of Partner Countries, Projects, and Recipients .— The Governing Board should establish— eligible partner country selection criteria, including transparent metrics to measure and assess global health security and pandemic prevention and preparedness strengths and vulnerabilities in countries seeking assistance; minimum standards for ensuring eligible partner country ownership and commitment to long-term results, including requirements for domestic budgeting, resource mobilization, and co-investment; criteria for the selection of projects to receive support from the Fund; standards and criteria regarding qualifications of recipients of such support; and such rules and procedures as may be necessary— for cost-effective management of the Fund; and to ensure transparency and accountability in the grant-making process. Additional Transparency and Accountability Requirements.— Inspector general .— The FIF Representative shall seek to ensure that the Fund maintains an independent Office of the Inspector General that— is fully enabled to operate independently and transparently; is supported by and with the requisite resources and capacity to regularly conduct and publish, on a publicly accessible website, rigorous financial, programmatic, and reporting audits and investigations of the Fund and its grantees, including subgrantees; and establishes an investigative unit that— develops an oversight mechanism to ensure that grant funds are not diverted to illicit or corrupt purposes or activities; and submits an annual report to the Governing Board describing its activities, investigations, and results. Sense of congress on corruption .— It is the sense of Congress that— corruption within global health programs contribute directly to the loss of human life and cannot be tolerated; and in making financial recoveries relating to a corrupt act or criminal conduct committed by a grant recipient, as determined by the Inspector General described in paragraph (1), the responsible grant recipient should be assessed at a recovery rate of up to 150 percent of such loss. Administrative expenses; financial tracking systems .— The FIF Representative shall seek to ensure that the Fund establishes, maintains, and makes publicly available a system to track— the administrative and management costs of the Fund on a quarterly basis; and the amount of funds disbursed to each grant recipient and subrecipient during each grant’s fiscal cycle. Exemption from duties and taxes .— The FIF Representative should seek to ensure that the Fund adopts rules that condition grants upon agreement by the relevant national authorities in an eligible partner country to exempt from duties and taxes all products financed by such grants, including procurements by any principal or subrecipient for the purpose of carrying out such grants. Reports to Congress.— Annual report.— In general .— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Dec. 23, 2022 ], and annually thereafter for the duration of the Fund, the Secretary of State, in collaboration with the Administrator of the USAID and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall submit a report on the activities of the Fund to the appropriate congressional committees. Report elements .— Each report required under subparagraph
(A)shall describe— the goals of the Fund; the programs, projects, and activities supported by the Fund; private and governmental contributions to the Fund; and the criteria utilized to determine the programs and activities that should be assisted by the Fund, including baselines, targets, desired outcomes, measurable goals, and extent to which those goals are being achieved. GAO report on effectiveness .— Not later than 2 years after the date on which the Fund is established, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that evaluates the effectiveness of the Fund, including— the effectiveness of the programs, projects, and activities supported by the Fund; and an assessment of the merits of continued United States participation in the Fund. United States Contributions.— In general .— Subject to paragraph (4)(C), the President may provide contributions to the Fund. Notification .— The Secretary of State, the Administrator of the USAID, or the head of any other relevant Federal department or agency shall submit a notification to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before making a contribution to the Fund that identifies— the amount of the proposed contribution; the total of funds contributed by other donors; and the national interests served by United States participation in the Fund. Limitation .— During the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the cumulative total of United States contributions to the Fund may not exceed 33 percent of the total contributions to the Fund from all sources. Withholdings.— Support for acts of international terrorism .— If the Secretary of State determines that the Fund has provided assistance to a country, the government of which the Secretary of State has determined, for purposes of section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2371 ) has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, the United States shall withhold from its contribution to the Fund for the next fiscal year an amount equal to the amount expended by the Fund to the government of such country. Excessive salaries .— If the Secretary of State determines that the salary during any of the first 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act of any individual employed by the Fund exceeds the salary of the Vice President of the United States for such fiscal year, the United States should withhold from its contribution for the following fiscal year an amount equal to the aggregate difference between the 2 salaries. Accountability certification requirement .— The Secretary of State may withhold not more than 20 percent of planned United States contributions to the Fund until the Secretary certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the Fund has established procedures to provide access by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of State, as cognizant Inspector General, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the USAID Inspector General, and the Comptroller General of the United States to the Fund’s financial data and other information relevant to United States contributions to the Fund (as determined by the Inspector General of the Department of State, in consultation with the Secretary of State).
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§ 5563
FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY FUND FOR PANDEMIC PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS, AND RESPONSE.
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