Background & Overview
The Pandemic Fund is a first-of-its-kind multilateral financing mechanism dedicated exclusively to strengthening critical pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) capacities at the local, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. The Fund provides a dedicated stream of additional long-term financing for investments in priority areas such as disease surveillance, laboratory systems, and health workforce strengthening.
The devastating human, economic, and social costs of COVID-19 have underscored the urgent need for coordinated action to build stronger health systems and mobilize additional resources for pandemic PPR. Recognizing the need to address chronic underinvestment in pandemic PPR capacity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors requested in April 2022 that the World Bank explore the establishment of a new financing mechanism.
With broad support from the G20, other founding donors, civil society, and key stakeholders, the World Bank’s Board of Directors approved the proposal to establish the Pandemic Fund on June 30, 2022. The Pandemic Fund was officially established by its Governing Board at its inaugural meeting on September 8-9, 2022. It was launched at a high-level event hosted by the G20 Presidency of Indonesia, on the margins of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting on November 13, 2022, in Bali, Indonesia.
The World Bank serves as Trustee of the Pandemic Fund and hosts its Secretariat. The Governing Board appointed a Technical Advisory Panel comprising leading world experts to assess and make recommendations on the technical merits of funding proposals.
In just a few years, the Pandemic Fund has moved quickly to fill critical investment gaps. As of August 2025, the Pandemic Fund’s portfolio stood at nearly US$7 billion spanning 75 countries across six geographic regions. This included US$885 million in grants awarded through its first two funding rounds, which catalyzed over US$6 billion in additional domestic and international resources for countries and regions.
These projects are operationalizing multisectoral One Health approaches and fostering coordination and collaboration across sectors and borders. The Fund is leveraging resources and expertise of its implementing entities and other partners, while also incentivizing countries to increase domestic investments, helping to ensure financial sustainability and long-term impact.
