The Pandemic Fund

Pandemic Fund Raises US$982 million in New Commitments from Governments and an Additional US$1.8 billion in Co-financing from International Partner Organizations in the First Three Months of its Resource Mobilization Campaign

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, October 31, 2024 — On the margins of today’s G20 Finance and Health Ministers’ Joint Meeting held today, the Pandemic Fund announced that it has mobilized US$2.8 billion over the past three months in new international financing for low- and middle-income countries to strengthen critical pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities. The additional resources include commitments from 10 countries amounting to US$982 million, and co-financing from international organizations totaling over US$1.8 billion. 

The event marks a critical milestone in the Pandemic Fund’s resource mobilization campaign, successfully securing additional pledges and catalytic financial resources, and attracting new partners. 

New pledges from sovereign contributors announced today were as follows: AUD 60 million from Australia; US$12 million from India; US$50 million from Japan; NOK 240 million from Norway; EUR 300 thousand from Portugal; US$10 million from Singapore; and EUR 25 million from Spain. Portugal is a first-time contributor to the Pandemic Fund. The United States and Germany reaffirmed their pledges announced at the start of the campaign in July, amounting to up to US$667 million and EUR 50 million, respectively. Italy announced its intention to pledge in the same range as its former contribution, EUR 100 million, in the coming months. In addition, the governments of Brazil and Canada signaled their intentions to announce new pledges in the coming months. The European Commission, France, Indonesia, and the Republic of South Africa expressed their strong support for the Pandemic Fund and called for urgent action from sovereign and non-sovereign contributors to provide additional resources. 

In the first three months of its resource mobilization campaign, the Pandemic Fund has successfully secured close to 50 percent of its target to mobilize at least US$2 billion in new pledges to support its strategic plan. The resource mobilization campaign will continue through Spring 2025.

The event drew several new organizations to the Pandemic Fund. Through a joint statement, a group of philanthropic partners affirmed their commitment to the Pandemic Fund and plans to commit new resources to ensure the Fund’s sustainability and success, with the goal of reaching or exceeding pledges of at least US$100 million dollars. Private sector organization PhRMA signaled its support and intention to partner with the Pandemic Fund, including through future financial contributions. 

“We are pleased to see so many contributors re-invest in the Pandemic Fund, in recognition of the critical role it is playing in the global finance and health architecture,” said Pandemic Fund Board Co-Chairs Dr. Chatib Basri, former Minister of Finance of Indonesia and Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda. “We urge more countries as well as non-sovereign funders to join these generous investors as soon as possible to ensure that the Pandemic Fund can continue its important work to safeguard humanity from emerging pandemic threats."
 

Taken together, these pledges and catalytic financial resources are vital to helping low- and middle-income countries implement their obligations under the newly amended International Health Regulations and a future international Pandemic Agreement. To date, 20 African Ministers of Health have issued urgent appeals for donors to step up their direct financial support for the Pandemic Fund.

“The Pandemic Fund’s mission is clear: no country should face a health crisis alone and collective resilience is imperative to preventing localized outbreaks from escalating into global health crises. As emerging diseases continue to pose new challenges, we must respond with strategies that are dynamic, research-driven, collaborative, and well-resourced. Continued investment in the Pandemic Fund is crucial to ensuring these measures are in place, while also amplifying efforts to maintain healthy and safe nations worldwide,” said H.E. Samuel Roger Kamba, Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo, echoing the sentiments of his fellow ministers across the continent.

“The new resources that the Pandemic Fund has mobilized demonstrate the commitment and solidarity of governments, multilateral development banks, and other partners towards strengthening global health security,” said Priya Basu, Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund. “The high demand for our grants underscores the financing gap we are filling, and our catalytic model allows us to achieve a tremendous multiplier effect for every dollar we award. We look forward to additional financial pledges in the coming months so we can meet our goal and fulfil our promise of protecting people around the world from pandemic threats.” 

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Additional quotes:

“President Biden and I believe that a fully-resourced Pandemic Fund will enable us to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to pandemics – protecting Americans and people around the world from tremendous human and economic costs. That is why I am calling on all current donors to double their initial pledges and new donors to pledge so that we can reach our $2 billion goal.” — The Hon. Janet Yellen, United States Secretary of the Treasury

"The COVID-19 pandemic brought it home to us all that viruses know no borders. The Pandemic Fund strengthens health systems in developing countries worldwide, thus helping the entire international community to improve pandemic prevention and preparedness. This also makes good sense financially, because effective prevention and preparedness is much less expensive than the extremely high costs of a pandemic. The German government has therefore provided another 50 million euros to strengthen the Pandemic Fund. This is well-invested money." — H.E. Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

“Our pledge recognises the importance of additional support for the Pandemic Fund’s vital work and complements Australia’s contributions to boost health security capabilities across our region. We are working in partnership to build resilient communities, improve health outcomes and save lives.” — The Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia 

“Spain is deeply committed with Global Health, and therefore, Spain will increase its support to the Pandemic Fund by 25%, totalling 25 million euros for the period 2025 – 2028.” — H.E. Mónica García Gómez, Minister of Health, Spain 

The Pandemic Fund is an important international initiative to marshal global resources to strengthen global preparedness and response to pandemics. We should continue to focus on global surveillance, and to enhance the pandemic readiness of less developed countries. Singapore is committed to this global endeavour.’ — H.E. Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health, Singapore

“The global fight against infectious diseases never ends, as revealed again by the Mpox. Increased support to the Pandemic Fund is even more critical to break the cycle of “panic and neglect” and make the world better prepared for the next pandemic. Today, Japan is proud to announce its intention to make an additional contribution of US$ 50 million. Japan remains committed to supporting the Pandemic Fund to play a pivotal role in enhancing coordination across the multiple stakeholders as well as catalyzing additional investments. To broaden the Fund’s donor base, I call on other donors to join.” — H.E. Katsunobu Kato, Minister of Finance, Japan

“Emerging diseases are on the rise. Predictable financing is a precondition for preventing, detecting and responding to new outbreaks. The Pandemic Fund plays a crucial role connecting countries, regional and global needs and financing channels. Norway is proud to continue to contribute to this work and provide an additional NOK 240 million to The Pandemic Fund (2025-2027). Pandemic preparedness and response is a collective global responsibility and we are never stronger than the weakest link. We call upon other countries, private sector, philanthropies, civil society, implementing entities and others to join us to mobilize resources for the Pandemic Fund.“ — H.E. Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim, Minister for International Development, Norway

“Portugal recognises that the need for robust pandemic preparedness remains critical. In supporting the Pandemic Fund, we contribute not only to strengthening individual health systems but also to a safer and healthier world.” — H.E. Cristina Vaz Tomé, Secretary of State for Health Management, Portugal 

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 $2 billion in seed capital from 27 sovereign and philanthropic contributors.  As of October 2024, in the past two years the Pandemic Fund has completed two funding rounds and awarded grants totaling US$ 885 million, mobilizing an additional US$6 billion in investments in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response for 75 countries across six regions.