Pandemic Fund allocates first grants to help countries better prepare for future pandemics

The Pandemic Fund Board approved grants in its first round of funding allocations aimed at building resilience to future pandemics in 37 countries across six regions. Selected projects will receive funding to strengthen disease surveillance and early warning, laboratory systems and health personnel.

Established in September 2022 and officially launched under Indonesia’s G20 presidency at the G20 meetings in Bali, Indonesia last November, the Anti-Pandemic Fund is the first multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to providing multi-year grants to help low- and middle-income countries to better prepare for crises. future pandemics. The Fund, hosted by the World Bank, has already raised $2 billion in seed capital. with 25 sovereign and philanthropic contributors.

In May this year, the Pandemic Fund closed its first call for proposals and received 179 applications from 133 countries. The Pandemic Fund Board met on July 19, 2023 to make its allocation decision under the first call, based on the technical recommendations of the independent Technical Advisory Group (TAP). Based on the proposals recommended by TAP, 19 were selected by the Board of Directors, focusing on the three priority areas of the first call for proposals and will benefit 37 countries representing all geographic regions of the World Bank , with at least 2 projects allocated per region. Around 30% of allocated grants are for projects in sub-Saharan Africa – the region with the highest demand for Pandemic Fund grants. More than 75% of the projects supported by the first call are in low- and middle-income countries. Projects involve various implementing entities. These projects support the Pandemic Fund’s objectives of providing additional resources dedicated to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, incentivizing countries to increase investments, improving coordination among partners and serving advocacy platform.

“We are very pleased that the Pandemic Fund has been able to move so quickly to allocate funding to projects that represent a good balance between geographic regions, country income groups and participating implementing entities,” said Pandemic Fund Board Co-Chairs Dr. Chatib Basri, former Minister of Finance of Indonesia and Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda.. “The Pandemic Fund Board worked diligently to ensure the selection process was inclusive and transparent, with equity at the top of the list. All proposals have been independently reviewed and evaluated by the Technical Advisory Group (TAP) and we are confident that the portfolio of projects selected by the Board for funding will increase prevention, preparedness and response capacity ( PPR) in the event of a pandemic and will respond to inequalities caused by COVID. -19 revealed more to the world. As co-chairs of the Board, we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that the Pandemic Fund provides support to countries that need it most and that funding is used wisely to have the greatest impact.

Consistent with the Pandemic Fund’s mission to catalyze financing and promote coordination, the $338 million in grants awarded will leverage more than $2 billion in additional resources, or an additional $6 for every dollar from the Fund. Many projects involve collaboration between countries, UN agencies and multilateral development banks. In responding to this call for proposals, countries mobilized civil society and networks of implementing partners. Many projects involve cross-border and regional collaboration, a One Health approach – a collaborative approach that combines human, animal and ecosystem health and consideration of gender and equity.

“The demand from countries for funding to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response is clear: the first call for proposals was eight times oversubscribed. I am very pleased that in the first round, the Pandemic Fund will be able to catalyze additional resources, promote coordination and support multi-country projects that promote regional collaboration,” said Priya Basu, Executive Director of the Pandemic Fund Secretariat. “This first round of funding has been a learning exercise and we are committed to learning lessons that will be reflected in the way we do business in the future. We are excited to see the results and impact of our funding.

The Pandemic Fund Board aims to launch the second call for proposals by the end of 2023, based on lessons learned from the first call for proposals.

Pandemic Fund grants catalyze co-financing of projects from public and private sources, as well as technical expertise from the World Health Organization and other partners. The Pandemic Fund Board includes equal representation from sovereign contributors and co-investors, as well as representatives from non-sovereign foundations/contributors and civil society organizations.

The selected proposals are listed below in alphabetical order of beneficiary:

*World Health Organization (WHO); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); World Bank Group (WBG); Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Website: worldbank.org/pandemicfund

Twitter: @Pandemic_Fund

Last updated: September 25, 2023