The pandemic cost millions of lives, trillions in economic losses, and set back years of progress in health, poverty reduction, and growth in the most vulnerable countries.
Established in September 2022, at the request of the G20, and formally launched in November under Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, the Pandemic Fund is the first multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to helping low- and middle-income countries bolster their capacity to contain disease outbreaks and prevent pandemics.
This Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), hosted at the World Bank, has its own Governing Board. To date 28 countries and philanthropies have committed nearly US$3 billion in financial contributions.
The Pandemic Fund continues to raise funds for its work from both sovereign and non-sovereign contributors.
The Fund’s key principles include catalyzing external financing; incentivizing domestic financing from recipients; promoting collaboration and coordination across sectors, countries & borders, and among partners, while drawing on their comparative advantages; and fostering cohesive funding streams to support national and regional pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) needs.
The Pandemic Fund has granted US$885 million to 47 projects for PPPR in 75 countries through two rounds with the third round underway.
Unique features of the Pandemic Fund:
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Focus on critical investments : The investments made by the Pandemic Fund are not disease-specific; they strengthen the capacity of countries and regions to detect and respond to any infectious disease outbreak, through strengthening surveillance, modernizing labs, and building a fit-for-purpose health workforce—the three areas of focus for the Fund.
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Addressing needs where they are : 43 percent of the US$885 million allocated is for countries in sub-Saharan Africa—the region with the highest financing gaps and the greatest demand for Pandemic Fund grants. Our current portfolio covers five other regions: Europe and Central Asia (7%), Latin America and Caribbean (15%), Middle East and North Africa (12%), South Asia (11%) and East Asia and Pacific (11%).
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Agility : As part of the second round of funding, US$129 million was allocated on a fast-track basis for 10 mpox-affected countries: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Federal Republic of Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.
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Country-led, with a strong focus on coordination and collaboration : The Fund’s recipient countries are at the center to define their needs and enhance their capacities through partnerships and collaboration across sectors, actors, and borders. Further, the Fund promotes coordination and collaboration among international institutions, like MDBs, UN agencies and global health initiatives (the Fund’s “Implementing Entities”), and between them and recipient countries.
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Inclusive governance : The Board has equal representation from sovereign donors and co-investor countries, and includes civil society and philanthropies representatives, ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice.
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Catalytic effect : The Fund’s business model helps catalyze significant additional financing. Grants are channeled to recipients through Implementing Entities that are required to bring co-financing and draw in resources from other external partners. Further, recipients are incentivized to bring co-investments, where possible, from their domestic resources and to demonstrate strong policy commitments. The US$885 million in grants awarded to date have mobilized an additional US$6 billion for pandemic PPR investments from international financing and domestic resources, a 1:7 leverage ratio.
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Cost efficiency : The Pandemic Fund’s operating model and administrative structure ensure that the maximum amount of funding reaches target countries and is not diverted to large and expensive overhead costs. Combined annual administrative and financial costs of the Secretariat and Trustee amount to 0.45% of cumulative contributions.
Pandemic Fund grants have already begun to make a difference, helping to operationalize One Health approaches to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
To learn more about the Pandemic Fund projects, visit our project portal
