The case for investing in the Global Financing Facility: Partnering to scale lifesaving care

Nearly 5 million children die each year—9 every minute. Every day, around 700 women die from pregnancy-related causes, 90 percent of them in low- and middle-income countries. Most of these deaths are preventable.

Closing that gap is central to the World Bank Group’s ambition to reach 1.5 billion people with health services by 2030. That goal cannot be achieved without a clear focus on the populations most at risk: women, children, and adolescents in the world’s poorest countries. 

That is why during the recent World Bank Group–IMF Spring Meetings, it was encouraging to see so many leaders from partner country governments, sovereign donors, philanthropies, the private sector, and civil society come together to reaffirm their support for the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF). Together, they committed more than $800 million on day one of the 2026–2030 investment round in support of maternal and child health.

This week, I am in Accra, Ghana, meeting with Ministers of Health and Finance from across Western and Central Africa to discuss how to reach 200 million people with better health services.

This effort is part of Fit to Prosper, a regional approach to the 1.5 billion goal. The emphasis is on strengthening frontline services, securing sustainable financing, and building resilience in service delivery to meet the health needs of the population.

Ministers have emphasized how they can advance health and nutrition goals and health sovereignty amid tightening fiscal space. They see healthcare not only as a driver of health outcomes, but also of human capital, job creation, prosperity, and health security. 

What makes the GFF model worth investing in at this moment?

Created in 2015, the GFF is the only dedicated global financing platform for women, children, and adolescents. But what makes it distinctive is not just what it funds—it’s how it works with the World Bank Group to turn financing into results at scale. 

Every dollar of GFF grant financing helps unlock around $7 in World Bank Group financing. The GFF works through country systems, aligning with national budgets and plans, with governments in the lead—and crowds in partners behind a single strategy. Civil society, communities, and youth play a critical role throughout, driving accountability, ensuring last-mile delivery, and keeping the focus on the women, children, and adolescents who are hardest to reach. 

The results are clear. Countries supported by the GFF have expanded access to essential health services and improved outcomes for women, children, and adolescents faster than comparable countries. 

Through the GFF’s Transform 2030 strategy, the partnership is focused on three things: securing smarter financing so countries can maximize the impact of every dollar spent on women, children, and adolescents; scaling up proven, cost-effective interventions to end preventable maternal and child deaths; and strengthening primary health care systems that can withstand shocks and accelerate countries’ path to self-reliance.

Working in tandem with the World Bank Group, the GFF is identifying and replicating the solutions with the greatest impact on maternal and child mortality—so countries can build on what works and move forward together. This strong alignment and synergy points to the power of the partnership to help us reach the 1.5 billion health target by 2030.    

The risks are real, and progress cannot be taken for granted. But so is the opportunity. Investing in the GFF will help countries expand access to lifesaving care for hundreds of millions of people—and bring the goal of ending preventable maternal and child deaths within reach.

Source : World Bank