World Bank's Pandemic Fund Issues First Grants for Future Prep

The Pandemic Fund's Governing Board has approved grants under its first round of funding allocations aimed to boost the resilience to future pandemics in 37 countries across six regions. The selected projects will receive funding to strengthen disease surveillance and early warning, laboratory systems, and health workforce.

Established in September 2022, and formally launched under Indonesia's G20 Presidency at the G20 meetings in Bali, Indonesia last November, the Pandemic Fund is the first multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to providing multiyear grants to help low- and middle-income countries become better prepared for future pandemics. The Fund, which is hosted by the World Bank, has already raised $2 billion in seed capital from 25 sovereign and philanthropic contributors.

In May of this year, the Pandemic Fund closed its first Call for Proposals and received 179 applications from 133 countries. The Pandemic Fund's Governing 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 Panel (TAP). Based on the proposals recommended by TAP, 19 were selected by the Board, with a focus on the three priority areas of the first Call for Proposals and will benefit 37 countries representing all World Bank geographic regions, with at least 2 projects allocated per region. About 30% of the grants allocated are for projects in sub-Saharan Africa - the region with the highest demand for Pandemic Fund grants. Over 75% of the projects supported by the first Call are in low and lower-middle income countries. The projects involve a variety of Implementing Entities. These projects support the Pandemic Fund's objectives to bring additional, dedicated resources for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, incentivize countries to increase investments, enhance coordination among partners, and serve as a platform for advocacy.

"We are very pleased that the Pandemic Fund has been able to move forward so quickly to allocate funding to projects that represent a good balance across geographical 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, Rwanda. "The Pandemic Fund Board worked diligently to ensure the selection process was inclusive and transparent, placing equity at top of mind. All proposals were independently reviewed and evaluated by the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) and we are confident that the portfolio of projects selected by the Board for funding will increase pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) capacity and respond to the inequalities that COVID-19 further revealed to the world. As Board co-Chairs, we will continue doing all we can to ensure that the Pandemic Fund delivers support to countries most in need, and that the funding is used wisely for greatest impact."

In keeping with the Pandemic Fund's mission to catalyze funding and promote coordination, the $338 million of grants awarded will mobilize over $2 billion in additional resources, adding $6 for each $1 coming from the Fund. Many of the projects involve collaboration between countries, UN agencies and Multilateral Development Banks. In responding to this call for proposals, countries have mobilized civil society and networks of delivery partners. Many of the projects involve cross-border and regional collaboration, a One Health approach- a collaborative approach that combines human, animal and econsystem health, and consideration for gender and equity.

"The demand from countries for grant financing to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response is clear-the first Call for Proposals was eight-times oversubscribed. I'm very pleased that in the first round, the Pandemic Fund will be able to catalyze significant additional resources, promote coordination and support multi-country projects that foster regional collaboration," said Priya Basu, Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund Secretariat. "This first round of funding was a learning exercise and we are committed to drawing lessons that will be reflected in how we do business in the future. We are excited to see the results and impact of our funding."

The Pandemic Fund's Governing Board aims to launch the second Call for Proposals by the end of 2023, based on lessons learned from the first Call for Proposals.

Grants from the Pandemic Fund catalyze co-financing for projects from public and private sources, and technical expertise from the World Health Organization and other partners. The Pandemic Fund's Governing Board includes equal representation of sovereign contributors and co-investors, as well as representatives from foundations/non-sovereign 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 UN (FAO); Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); World Bank Group (WBG); Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Website: worldbank.org/pandemicfund