The Pandemic Fund

Priya Basu was appointed as the inaugural Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund at the World Bank in September 2022. During the pandemic she led the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 to address key bottlenecks in vaccine access and delivery, as well as the Bank’s engagement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response with the G20 and G7 - coordinating across finance and health.

Background

The Pandemic Fund was established as a dedicated, multilateral funding mechanism to support critical investments to strengthen Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on IDA and IBRD countries.  The Pandemic Fund was formally established as a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF

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PRIYA BASU | JUNE 26, 2023

Originally published on Investing in Health
 

We live in a world where the risks of pandemics – particularly with zoonotic origins – are growing, driven by climate change, deforestation, changing land use patterns, food systems, water shortages, and urbanization. As the WHO has warned, the question is not if there will be another pandemic, it’s when.

Following the February 2023 call for expressions of interest, which far exceeded expectations with requests for more than $7 billion of grant financing, the Pandemic Fund closed its first Call for Proposals on May 19, 2023, with final allocation decisions expected in late July 2023.

The Pandemic Fund launched the application process for the first round of funding with a call for expressions of interest (EoI) in February 2023. The demand for resources was unexpectedly high,  exceeding the available funding of $300 million by 23 times.  While the Pandemic Fund will make fundraising a priority, the high demand also shows that more financing is needed from other/multiple sources. 

Application Process Kicks Off

The G20 Presidency of Indonesia is hosting the official launch the Pandemic Fund on the margins of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting on November 13, 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. 

At the launch, the Pandemic Fund, now with new name and logo, will provide the latest progress the Governing Board has made since its establishment on September 8, 2022, to get operational – an important step toward strengthening global health architecture. 

BALI, November 13, 2022 —The G20 Presidency of Indonesia, in partnership with the Pandemic Fund secretariat, today officially launched the Pandemic Fund at a high-level event, opened by Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, on the margins of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting.