The Pandemic Fund

Call for Proposals

The Pandemic Fund announced its third Call for Proposals (3rd CfP) on December 19, 2024, with an envelope of US$500 million. The purpose of the announcement was to outline the structure of the Call and to allow applicants and potential beneficiaries of the Pandemic Fund ample time to begin preparations and consultations. The 3rd CfP launch will occur in two phases: the first phase (Phase I) is now open for the submission of single and multi-country proposals and the second phase (Phase II) will open in mid-June 2025 for Regional Entity proposals. The envelope of funding for this CfP (Phase I and Phase II) is US$500 million. 

Recognizing the high demand for funding demonstrated in the first and second CfP, the 3rd CfP continues to prioritize high-impact investments in: 1) early warning and disease surveillance systems, 2) laboratory systems (human and animal), and 3) strengthening human resources, public health and rural and urban community workforce capacity, including workforce capacity related to human, animal (domestic, wildlife) and environment/ecosystem health.

Further, in line with the Pandemic Fund’s medium-term Strategic Plan, additional emphasis will be placed on strengthening two cross-cutting enablers, National Public Health Institutes (or relevant public institutions) and regional/global networks, organizations, or hubs and the four underlying themes of the Strategic Plan.

For Phase I, the Pandemic Fund will accept proposals only from an Eligible Country or a group of Eligible Countries) in partnership with at least one approved Implementing Entity (IE). The 39 countries that were awarded single-country grants under the 1st and 2nd CfPs are not eligible to receive a single-country grant under the 3rd CfP. However, these countries may apply as part of one “multi-country” proposal. “Regional Entity” proposals will not be considered during Phase I of the 3rd CfP and a separate application process will be opened in June 2025 to support such types of proposals. A country that was part of a successful multi-country grant and/or covered under a successful Regional Entity proposal in the 1st and/or 2nd CfP is eligible to apply as part of one multi-country proposal in the 3rd CfP. 

Unsuccessful applicants from the 1st and 2nd CfPs are encouraged to re-apply for this 3rd CfP. It is recommended that applicants review the feedback provided to them on their previous submission before re-applying and note changes to the Guidance Note, Application for Funding Template, and Scoring & Weighting Methodology.
 

TIMELINE AND PROCESS FOR THE THIRD ROUND OF FUNDING (PHASE I)

• December 19, 2024:
  3rd Call for Proposals announced.
   
• March 26, 2025:
  Phase I launched. 
  Guidance Note released, which provides key information about the guidelines for the 3rd Call for Proposals – Phase I. Scoring & Weighting Methodology released, which provides information on how the Technical Advisory Panel will score and evaluate proposals, and online application portal launched.
   
• June 6, 2025: 
  Application portal for Phase I closes on June 6, 2025 at 23:59 Eastern Time.
   
• June 7—30, 2025:
  Review of all proposals received (Phase I) for Eligibility by the Secretariat. Applicants are requested to monitor their e-mail inboxes in case the Secretariat needs to contact them.
   
• July—October 2025:
  Review of eligible proposals by the Technical Advisory Panel based on the Scoring and Weighting Methodology.
   
• October—November 2025:
  Review of eligible proposals by the Governing Board. Announcement of selected proposals to be funded.  
  
   

PRIORITY AREAS OF FUNDING 

This Call for Proposals will continue to prioritize high-impact investments in: i) early warning and disease surveillance systems; ii) laboratory systems (human and animal); and iii) strengthening human resources/public health and community workforce capacity, to help countries prevent, prepare for and respond to health emergencies. Financing is intended for projects that will help strengthen core capacities in one or more of these three programmatic priorities, and that will have lasting impact on the prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) to pandemics and disease outbreaks. 

Further, in line with the Pandemic Fund’s medium-term Strategic Plan, additional emphasis will be placed on strengthening two cross-cutting enablers, National Public Health Institutes (or relevant public institutions) and regional/global networks, organizations, or hubs aimed at bolstering the institutional foundations that support information sharing, coordination across public health and One Health systems, and rapid action. To ensure that these investments are truly inclusive, proposals are also encouraged to integrate the four underlying themes of the Strategic Plan. These enablers and themes should be integrated within both proposal development and implementation.
 

TYPES OF PROPOSALS ACCEPTED

There are two types of proposals that will be accepted in Phase I, which include:

1. Single-country proposal: This is a proposal submitted by one eligible country along with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of the proposal will occur in and benefit those at the national or sub-national level of the applying country.
    
2. Multi-country proposal: This is a proposal submitted by two or more eligible countries along with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of the proposal will occur in and benefit those at the national or sub-national level of each of the applying countries.
   
    

KEY APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

Call for Proposals — Guidance Note
The Guidance Note is also available in French and Spanish for your convenience, however the English version should be used as the base. This note provides key information for applicants including score, eligibility and information about submitting proposals.

English
French / Français  (coming soon)
Spanish / Español (coming soon)
 

Call for Proposals — Application Template
The application must be submitted in English using the online application portal, but (typable) PDF versions in English, French, and Spanish will be provided for your convenience.

English
French / Français (coming soon)
Spanish / Español (coming soon)
 

Call for Proposals — Scoring and Weighting Methodology
The Scoring & Weighting Methodology explain how the TAP will assess the proposals.

English
French / Français (coming soon)
Spanish / Español (coming soon)
 

Call for Proposals — Project-specific Results Framework (PSRF) Excel template
This is the Excel that must be submitted on the application portal as part of the proposal. Please refer to Part E, Question 20 of the Application Template.

Excel download
 

Call for Proposals — Cover letter template
Applicants may use this template for the required cover letter that must be submitted along with the proposal.

Word download
 

Pandemic Fund Results Framework

English
French / Français 
Spanish / Español 
 

Pandemic Fund Monitoring & Evaluation Guidelines

English
French / Français 
Spanish / Español 

INFORMATION SESSIONS

The Pandemic Fund will hold information sessions on the requirements of the 3rd Call for Proposals – Phase I, how to access the application portal and additional technical sessions. Please find the upcoming Information Sessions below and register to join: 

• Information Session 1 – Tuesday, April 1st 7-9am EST (12-2pm GMT-5)
  Watch Session 1 (Passcode: MF43T@3s)
   

• Information Session 2 – Monday, April 7th 9-11pm EST (2-4am GMT-5)
  Watch Session 2 (Passcode: ^L6yGu9$)

  Download the PowerPoint Sides

Sessions will be recorded and this page will be updated with the recordings and presentations. Interpretation in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian will be provided in each session. 

Please follow us on social media for the most up-to-date information: X @Pandemic_Fund and LinkedIn.

 

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

The Funding Proposal Template should be completed on the Pandemic Fund’s application portal, which is now live.  Please review the tutorial video for a step-by-step walk through of the process and review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).   If you have questions, please submit a ticket through the Helpdesk or contact the Pandemic Fund at pandemicfundcfp@worldbank.org.

 

LANGUAGE OF SUBMISSION

Proposals, including all accompanying documentation, should be submitted in English. The Pandemic Fund encourages countries to seek assistance from the IE, if required, to secure translation of proposals into English.

 

PRIVACY NOTICE

To participate in this Call for Proposals, the World Bank will collect personal details pertaining to name, business email, business phone, business address, and signature. This data will be destroyed 3 years after the end of the completion of the selection process, except for the selected proposals, where information associated with the applicants’ names may be published by the World Bank and kept for longer. The World Bank may also collect additional information which will be used to produce statistics and aggregated analysis, but such information will be kept in an anonymized format. The World Bank will process your details in accordance with the Call for Proposals and with the Privacy Notice for the World Bank webpages. By submitting a proposal, you agree to the World Bank’s use of your proposal details and processing of your personal data as part of the application process. The World Bank may also publish the applicant’s name in the official page of the Call for Proposals. 

 

ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES

All countries and territories that are eligible to receive financing from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) are eligible to apply for project funding from the Pandemic Fund (Eligible Countries). 

For the purpose of the 3rd Call for Proposals, the 39 countries and territories that were awarded single-country grants under the first and second CfPs are not eligible to receive single-country grants under the second CfP. These include: Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Georgia, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen and Zambia  However, these countries/territories may be included in multi-country proposals. Countries/territories that were part of successful multi-country grants and/or covered under successful Regional Entity proposals in the first CfP are eligible to apply for both one single- country and one multi-country grant in the second CfP.

 

IMPLEMENTING ENTITIES

The Pandemic Fund channels its financing to support project implementation through Implementing Entities that have been approved to date by the Board. Each proposal must identify at least one Implementing Entity from among the thirteen currently approved Implementing Entities (IEs): African Development Bank; Asian Development Bank; Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; European Investment Bank; Inter-American Development Bank; International Finance Corporation; World Bank; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; UNICEF; World Health Organization; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Please find contact information below for the IEs if you would like to reach out to them directly to discuss a potential proposal: