📋 Tender Overview
The Pandemic Response Fund Board of Directors has approved $500 million for its third round of funding to scale up efforts by low- and middle-income countries to strengthen health system capacity for disease surveillance, diagnostic and laboratory equipment, and the health workforce—the three cornerstones of preventing and responding to future pandemics.
Interested countries , regional organizations and implementing agencies will be able to submit their proposals through an online portal starting in March 2025. This third call for proposals will be launched in two phases: the first, for national and multi-country proposals, will open in March 2025, while the second, for regional organizations, will open in June. In line with the Fund’s medium-term strategic plan , proposals should, in their design and implementation, pay particular attention to four substantive dimensions: the “One Health” approach, community and civil society engagement, gender equality and health equity. Investments should also focus on strengthening two cross-cutting “catalysts”: national public health institutes (and other public institutions) and regional or global networks, organizations and hubs.
“What the Fund has accomplished in just two years is remarkable. Nearly half of the $2 billion raised has been allocated through two funding rounds, and many projects are already helping to strengthen health security in communities and countries around the world,” said Pandemic Fund Board Co-Chairs Chatib Basri, former Minister of Finance of Indonesia, and Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda . “The recent outbreaks of monkeypox and Marburg virus are stark reminders that there is no time to waste on the pandemic preparedness front. We must ensure that no country is left behind.”
The Fund has provided a total of $885 million in financing to date, leveraging an additional $6 billion in international co-financing and domestic co-investment to strengthen surveillance, laboratory and workforce capacity in 75 countries across all six regions. More than 50% of the resources allocated under the second funding cycle are for sub-Saharan Africa, the region where demand for support is greatest.
“Low- and middle-income countries do not want to be caught off guard again. Demand for support from the Pandemic Response Fund has far outstripped available resources, a testament to the financing gap we are helping to fill,” said Priya Basu, Executive Director of the Fund . “As we launch the third call for proposals, we are already seeing tangible results on the ground in countries implementing projects from our first round of funding. These investments will save lives and protect economies for many years to come.”
The portal for submitting national and multinational proposals will be open from 14 March to 30 May 2025. Regional organisations will be able to submit their projects from around mid-June until mid-September. The funding allocated under this third call for proposals should be announced at the beginning of November. Further funding rounds are expected to be launched in late 2025, subject to available resources and in line with the Fund's strategic plan.
Given the magnitude of demand for funding relative to available resources, the Pandemic Response Fund launched a resource mobilization campaign in July 2024 with the goal of raising an additional $2 billion in the short term. Today, five months after the launch of this initiative, the Fund is more than halfway to its goal, with $1 billion in new pledges from governments, while securing commitments of support from new philanthropic organizations and the private sector. This fundraising campaign will continue until spring 2025.
