New data shows GFF partner countries are expanding essential health services and mobilizing resources faster than comparable countries

November 5, 2026 — The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) today announced the close of its 2026 investment round, having successfully reached the US$1 billion target with commitments from governments, philanthropic and private sector partners to accelerate progress towards ending preventable maternal and child deaths.

The new commitments will help countries improve the health of women, children and adolescents. This means saving lives but also giving young people the chance to stay in school, find work and build their futures. Further, acceleration efforts will support countries to improve access to essential medicines and health products for women, children and adolescents. It will also help countries expand proven innovations that make childbirth safer for mothers and newborns.

“These commitments are an important vote of confidence in the GFF model and what countries can achieve when they are in the driver’s seat,” said Hon. Dr. Austin Demby, Minister of Health, Sierra Leone, and Chair of the GFF Ministerial Network. “This funding will help to reach more women and children with lifesaving care and build stronger health systems that can sustain progress for generations to come.”

Since 2015, maternal and child mortality have fallen faster in GFF partner countries. For example, maternal mortality fell by 26 percent in GFF partner countries between 2015 and 2023. Globally, the drop was 14 percent. Under-five mortality fell by 24 percent between 2015 and 2024. Globally, the drop was 13 percent. These results show that progress speeds up when countries prioritize women’s and children’s health, including through a prioritized plan to scale up effective services, and crowd in financing to ensure national plans are financed — a key goal of the GFF’s support to countries. 

In fact, countries working with the GFF are securing more financing for women’s and children’s health. GFF partner countries have committed US$11.9 billion in World Bank Group financing to these priorities since 2015, with a 46 percent increase in allocations to the highest impact interventions for women, children and adolescents. 

“Reaching US$1 billion in grant financing reflects the trust our investors place in the GFF, and the health results partner countries are achieving for women, children, and adolescents,” said Mamta Murthi, the World Bank Group’s Vice President for People. “Investing in the GFF will help unlock more World Bank Group financing towards ending preventable deaths of women and children and brings us closer to the Bank Group’s goal of reaching 1.5 billion people with quality, affordable health services by 2030.”

In recent months, Japan (US$40 million), the Netherlands (€84.5 million), Germany (€10 million) and an anonymous foundation (US$45 million) stepped forward with new pledges. Governments and foundations are investing side by side, at a time when aid budgets are falling. This shows the strength of the GFF partnership. As the global health architecture evolves, the GFF offers a model that works through country systems and national budgets, led by governments. Together, partners are helping countries reach more women, children and adolescents with lifesaving care.

Quotes from Partners

“In addition, strengthening human capital through investments in maternal and child health and nutrition is essential for achieving UHC. From this perspective, Japan announces a pledge of USD 40 million to the Global Financing Facility (GFF) in the first year of its new five-year strategy. Japan will strengthen collaboration between the GFF and the UHC Knowledge Hub, leveraging their strong complementarity, to translate the knowledge and experiences gained through the UHC Knowledge Hub’s training program into concrete actions at the country level,” as delivered in a statement by H.E. Satsuki Katayama, Minister of Finance, Japan, to the Development Committee.

“The GFF is fulfilling an important task in mobilizing sustainable, country-led financing for health and rights of women, children and adolescents. That is why I am very pleased to announce that the Netherlands will contribute an additional €84.5 million between 2027 and 2030 to the GFF, on top of our annual core contribution of €23.9 million. This is a clear sign that we will not step back. No country or organization can do this alone, which is why the Netherlands greatly values our partnership within the GFF, where we work together to achieve more for women and children,” as Pascalle Grotenhuis, Vice-Minister for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands, announced during the GFF Investors Group meeting.

“Putting sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRHR) at the heart of health policy gives me hope. Germany wants to support this collective effort, which is why we’re proud to contribute €10 million to the GFF's sustainable commodities access program. This program will leverage additional financing based on sound national health strategies and deliver results on the ground for women and girls,” said Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF)

The GFF is a country-led partnership, hosted by the World Bank Group, which was established in 2015 to end preventable deaths of women, children, and adolescents. The GFF provides grant financing and technical assistance to low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their health systems and improve the quality of and access to health and nutrition services through better use of data, prioritized plans, aligned financing, and policy reforms. The GFF’s collaborative model brings together partner countries, bilateral and multilateral funders, philanthropies, global health institutions, civil society organizations, youth-led organizations, and the private sector to align their support around nationally-owned priorities for women, children and adolescent health and nutrition.

About TRANSFORM 2030

TRANSFORM 2030: Transforming Health Systems, Saving Lives is the GFF's strategy for 2026–2030. It aims to expand delivery of quality, affordable essential health and nutrition services for women, children and adolescents, while transforming partner country health systems to prioritize and sustain these investments. The strategy was endorsed by the GFF Investors Group and Trust Fund Committee in November 2025.

Website
Global Financing Facility

Media Contact
rbhattarai@worldbankgroup.org
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