International donors have committed USD 806 million to kickstart a new investment round for the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF). The announcement took place in Washington DC during the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings. These funds support the TRANSFORM 2030 strategy. This is a five year roadmap designed to reduce maternal and child deaths in countries with the highest health burdens.
The GFF is a partnership hosted by the World Bank Group. It works with national governments to scale up proven health and nutrition solutions. Between 2026 and 2030, the GFF plans to grow its operations from 36 countries to 50. This expansion expects to leverage billions in resources from the World Bank and domestic budgets. The goal is to help the World Bank reach 1.5 billion people with affordable health services by 2030.
Mamta Murthi, Vice President, People, World Bank Group, and Chair, GFF Trust Fund Committee, said: “The case is clear: investing in women, children and adolescents builds human capital, reduces poverty, and creates jobs and lasting prosperity. With its new strategy, a fully funded GFF will help partner countries to deliver lifesaving care to hundreds of millions of people twice as fast. We are grateful to our partners who have already committed over USD 800 million to kickstart this investment round, and we look forward to more partners joining us.”
The current pledges cover 80 percent of the USD 1 billion fundraising target. Private partners and philanthropies are also contributing to fix supply chain issues and improve access to medicines. A new Sustainable Commodities Access Program received USD 250 million to help countries buy essential health supplies. Another USD 15 million was pledged to scale up the Safer Births Bundle of Care.
Hon. Baroness Jenny Chapman of Darlington, Minister of State for International Development and Africa, UK, stated: “If we care about women and children’s lives, we must care about how health systems are financed and run. That’s why we back the Global Financing Facility. It helps turn limited funding into larger, sustainable finance for countries to improve health systems, whilst also scaling reforms to improve women, girls and young people’s health across the world. It’s about moving from short term fixes to lasting progress.”
Major contributions came from the governments of Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. The Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation also provided significant backing.
