Washington, D.C., December 19, 2024 - The Pandemic Fund's Governing Board approved a grant envelope of $500 million for its third round of funding to help low- and middle-income countries scale up efforts to build health systems capacity in disease surveillance, diagnostics and laboratory systems, and health workforce-the three critical building blocks to prevent and respond to future pandemics.
Interested countries, Regional Entities, and Implementing Entities will be able to submit proposals through an online portal starting in March 2025. The third Call will be launched in two phases-the first phase will be open to single and multi-country proposals in March 2025; the second phase will open in June 2025 to Regional Entity proposals. In developing and implementing proposals, as laid out in the medium-term Strategic Plan, particular attention should be paid to four underlying themes-One Health, community and civil society engagement, and gender and health equity-as well as investments in strengthening two cross-cutting enablers-National Public Health Institutes (or other public institutions) and regional or global networks, organizations, or hubs.
"It has been remarkable to see what the Fund has already accomplished in just two years. Nearly half of its first US$2 billion in pledges have been awarded through two global funding rounds, and many projects are already helping communities and countries become safer," 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 recent Mpox and Marburg outbreaks have been stark reminders that there is no time to pause when it comes to pandemic preparedness. We must ensure that no country is left behind."
To date, the Pandemic Fund has awarded grants totaling US$885 million, that have mobilized an additional US$6 billion in international co-financing and domestic co-investments, benefiting 75 countries across six geographies through investments in surveillance, laboratories and workforce capacity building. In the second round alone, more than 50 percent of the funds awarded went to sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest demand for Pandemic Fund support.
"Low- and middle-income countries don't want to be caught unprepared again. Demand for Pandemic Fund grants has far exceeded available resources, underscoring the financing gap we are filling," said Priya Basu, Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund. "As we launch the third Call, we are already seeing tangible results on the ground in the countries implementing projects awarded under the first round. These investments will save lives and protect economies for many years to come."
The application portal for single-country and multi-country proposals will be opened on March 14, 2025, with a deadline of May 30, 2025, for submission of applications. The window for Regional entity proposals is expected to be opened in mid-June, with a submission deadline of mid-September 2025. Funding under the third Call is expected to be awarded in early November 2025.
Further rounds of funding are expected to be launched in late 2025, subject to available resources and alignment with the Pandemic Fund's Strategic Plan.
Against a backdrop of tremendous demand for funding that outstrips available resources, the Pandemic Fund embarked on a near-term fundraising effort in July 2024. Five months into the resource mobilization campaign, with up to US$1 billion in new pledges from governments, the Fund is more than halfway toward meeting its short-term fundraising goal of US$2 billion and has secured commitments of support from new philanthropies and private sector organizations. The campaign will continue through Spring 2025.
To learn more about the process to apply for the third round of funding, go to: https://www.thepandemicfund.org/call-for-proposals
About the Pandemic Fund
Launched in November 2022 by leaders of the Group of 20 nations and hosted by the World Bank Group, the Pandemic Fund is the first multilateral financing mechanism of its kind dedicated to helping low- and middle-income countries be better prepared for emerging pandemic threats. Grants from the Pandemic Fund catalyze co-financing from governments and support from an array of accredited Implementing Entities. The Pandemic Fund's Governing Board includes equal representation of sovereign contributors and co-investor countries, as well as representatives from foundations/non-sovereign contributors and civil society organizations. In its first year of operation, the Pandemic Fund raised $2 billion in seed capital from 27 sovereign and philanthropic contributors. Since its establishment in 2022, the Pandemic Fund has awarded, through its two funding rounds, grants totaling US$885 million, mobilizing an additional US$6 billion in resources for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR) investments for 75 countries across six geographic regions. A total of 47 projects have received funding to date through the two rounds.
