18 June 2025 — The governing bodies of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF)—its Investors Group (IG) and Trust Fund Committee (TFC)—convened a virtual meeting on 4–5 June to discuss the GFF’s plans to assess disruptions to delivery of essential health services in partner countries as well as development of the next GFF strategy, which is being informed by consultations with a broad set of global and country stakeholders.

The IG meeting was chaired by Johanneke De Hoogh, Head of the Global Health and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, standing in for Vice Minister for International Cooperation Pascalle Grotenhuis of the Netherlands. 

The Honorable Minister Austin Demby, Minister of Health for Sierra Leone and Chair of the Ministerial Network, set the context for the discussion by sharing a readout of recent ministerial network meetings held on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly. Key messages included the urgent need for systems that are responsive to the unique needs and demographics of each country.

Highlights of the Investors Group meeting include:

  • The session on the disruption analysis highlighted how the GFF can support countries with rapid assessment of funding gaps, service delivery disruption analysis and evidence-informed prioritization and adaptation. This requires considering all available resources; coordinating closely across partners to support country leadership and alignment; ensuring a balance between institutionalized and agile approaches; continued advocacy for increased mobilization of domestic resources for health, while rigorously prioritizing the use of available resources. And importantly, the GFF should work closely with partners and complement existing data to arrive at a comprehensive picture of disruptions, to be able to address them through a joined-up approach in close collaboration with partners. IG members welcomed the approach, and partner countries signaled interest in GFF support in this area.

  • On the development of the next GFF strategy, IG members appreciated the comprehensive consultation process, and the strong engagement with ministers of health and stakeholders in partner countries. They expressed broad support for the proposed goals and objectives outlined for the new strategy, with clear direction to highlight the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) agenda and ensure that mainstreaming gender and equity in the strategy will lead to ongoing prioritization and will be tracked and measured accordingly. They emphasized the need for the GFF Secretariat to stay focused on where it’s best positioned to deliver among global partners, with an eye towards mobilizing sustainable financing for women’s, children’s, and adolescent health and driving greater efficiency and impact.

  • Honorable Minister Demby relayed that during the Ministerial Network consultation on the strategy, ministers strongly endorsed the GFF’s role in driving alignment of external funding and coordination among development partners and stakeholders around country plans, priorities, and options. Ministers also called on the GFF to focus on the areas with the highest return on investment and highlighted the opportunity of the next strategy to reinforce GFF support to countries in addressing pressing challenges over the next five years.

The Trust Fund Committee meeting took place following the IG. Key outcomes of the discussion included:  

  • TFC members welcomed the updates on the GFF Joint Financing Framework and Challenge Fund, which launched a year ago, expressing support for both initiatives. They also encouraged ongoing learning and lessons to be captured and considered as part of the development of the next GFF strategy. 

  • On the development of the next strategy, the TFC underscored the important role of the GFF to ensure that health systems work for women, children and adolescents, and concurred with the IG on emphasizing the importance of SRH in the new strategy. TFC members requested more data to inform the proposed approach to help take innovations to scale as part of the next strategy. They also stressed the need to protect core GFF financing while also offering support for new financing windows to accelerate progress in specific priority areas—ensuring this approach remains grounded in country ownership.

  • Finally, they stressed the need for the new strategy to reflect the principles of the Lusaka Agenda on the future of global health initiatives and how the GFF will respond and adapt to the evolving global health landscape and partnership opportunities.

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