Major donors committed more than USD 806 million on Wednesday to the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) at the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, launching a new investment round aimed at reducing preventable deaths among mothers and children in low- and middle-income countries.
The pledges represent more than 80 percent of the GFF’s USD 1 billion fundraising target for 2026, with additional commitments expected before year end. The Gates Foundation led philanthropy contributions with USD 200 million, while Canada committed CAD 190 million, the Netherlands pledged USD 186 million, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) contributed USD 150 million, Norway pledged NOK 600 million, and Germany committed EUR 45 million.
The funding launches the GFF’s TRANSFORM 2030 strategy, a five-year plan under which the facility intends to expand from 36 to 50 countries with the highest maternal and child mortality. The programme is projected to unlock USD 12.5 billion in World Bank Group (WBG) financing, alongside USD 17.8 billion in partner resources and USD 21.4 billion in domestic funding to scale high-impact health interventions.
Two new programmes were unveiled alongside the pledges. A Sustainable Commodities Access Program, backed by USD 250 million from philanthropic and private sector partners, will work to strengthen countries’ access to essential medical supplies and resolve supply chain gaps. A separate USD 15 million initial commitment from the Laerdal Scale Up Fund will support rollout of the Safer Births Bundle of Care across 10 countries, a model shown to cut maternal mortality by 75 percent and newborn deaths by 40 percent in Tanzania.
Ghana is an established GFF partner country and participated in the Ministerial Network session that endorsed the new 2026 to 2030 strategy in Dakar last November. The facility has been supporting Ghana’s health sector planning with a focus on primary health care, maternal and neonatal services, and improved health data systems.
Mamta Murthi, Vice President for People at the World Bank and chair of the GFF Trust Fund Committee, said the fully funded facility would help partner countries deliver lifesaving care to hundreds of millions of people twice as fast. Combined with USD 627 million in existing commitments, total confirmed funding now stands at USD 1.43 billion, nearly two-thirds of the USD 2.2 billion the strategy requires in full.
The GFF, established in 2015 and hosted by the World Bank, currently supports 36 low and lower-middle-income countries through catalytic grant financing and technical assistance.
