Following the news that billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has committed to giving away his whole fortune in the next 20 years, we look at what his foundation spends its money on.
Plus, as the global health world flocks to Geneva, we take a look at who funds the World Health Organization — and which donors stepped up the organization’s funding plate the last time U.S. President Donald Trump retreated.
A new global health duo with $1 billion to spend, and where the U.N. plans to make cuts.
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Earlier this month, the Gates Foundation announced it would be doubling its philanthropic spending over the next two decades — with Bill Gates, the organization’s 69-year-old founder, committing to .
“2025 may be and is likely to be the first year of this century [that] preventable child mortality actually rises rather than declines. Where we see an increase in preventable deaths, in HIV, tuberculosis and malaria,” said Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman in a press briefing during the announcement. “And so we want to do everything we can to offset that.”
Over the next two decades, the foundation will spend $200 billion on ending maternal and child death, preventing infectious disease, and lifting millions of people out of poverty. To , my colleague Alecsondra Kieren Si digs into the past, parsing through $5.4 billion in Gates contributions last year.
How the Gates Foundation spent $5.4 billion in 2024 (Pro)
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We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of those that have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.
The has approved a $15.6 million initiative to protect a globally significant marine biodiversity hot spot covering Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama.
The has announced an $80 million loan to spur economic and agricultural development in Ukraine.
The is providing €4 million ($4.5 million) aid to support the urgent needs of displaced and vulnerable communities in Mauritania.
The is seeking consultancy services to conduct a fiscal analysis of the new child protection and family support system in the Czech Republic.
is inviting proposals from qualified firms for the construction of a medical institute in Peru.
German funder is looking for bidders for the supply and installation of energy-efficient lighting systems in public institutions in Tunisia.
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Today marks the start of the 78th World Health Assembly, and as thousands of global health experts gather in Geneva, . Largely, that’s the result of the U.S. government’s decision to significantly cut its contributions to the World Health Organization.
The U.S. has long been WHO’s biggest supporter. But we set out to find out just how much of the agency’s revenue comes from the U.S. and who’s responsible for the rest. My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan digs into the details, finding that over the last decade, , a period that followed President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agency during his first time in office.
Back then, . Germany quadrupled its contribution to WHO in 2020, and the Gates Foundation outspent every government but the U.S. during the 10-year period from 2014 to 2023. This time around, all other bilateral donors would need to at least , Miguel reports — but with aid cuts rippling across Europe, today’s context feels very different than last time around.
Who’s funding the World Health Organization? (Pro)
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Here’s all you need to know for #WHA78
+ Our team of global health reporters is in Geneva for WHA78 and will be hosting a series of panel sessions and high-level interviews with some important global health leaders. Check out the full program of Devex @ WHA78 and request an invite to join us if you are in Geneva or register to watch online.
In other global health news, there’s a new team in town: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has partnered up with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to while boosting their immunization support.
“We really have the potential to kind of save millions more lives by doing this,” David Kinder, Gavi’s director of development finance, tells my colleague Jenny Lei Ravelo. “And this is just one of the first of a number of partnerships we want to bring together.”
The partnership will work like this: Gavi — an organization that seeks to connect millions of children with vaccines — will blend its grant resources with AIIB, one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. As part of that process, to support public-sector health projects, which will be complemented with concessional resources from Gavi.
The organization isn’t planning to stop at AIIB, Kinder explains. Instead, to offer different, innovative types of funding for low- and middle-income countries — something Kinder hopes will help nations prioritize investments in health infrastructure.
Gavi eyes blended financing in new partnership with AIIB
+ How does MDBs' unique ability to multiply scarce taxpayer funding through capital markets make them the last viable financing vehicles standing in this time of dwindling bilateral aid? Join us and a panel of development finance expertsto discuss this as well as identify where funding will flow when traditional sources disappear and how organizations must adapt. Save your spot now.
Six months ago, the United Kingdom committed nearly £2 billion to the World Bank’s concessional fund for the world’s lowest-income countries. But now, the United Kingdom is reevaluating its pledge — a move that some have called after the government decided to cut its aid budget.
For the last 15 years, the U.K. has contributed at least 0.5% of its gross national income to development assistance. But in February, the country’s Labour government announced it would be cutting that spend to just 0.3% to boost the country’s defense budget. Now, the World Bank’s International Development Association fund might be the first to feel the effects.
“The grim reality of the aid cuts is emerging as the U.K. signals it is looking to ,” says Richard Watts, senior adviser on development finance at Save the Children UK.
Will the UK renege on its pledge to IDA?
The World Bank isn’t the only one feeling the pain — the entire United Nations system is under financial strain, and U.N. chief António Guterres has started to lay out the damage.
Last week, my colleague Colum Lynch had the details: In an address to the U.N. membership, , including the elimination of 20% of civilian workers across key parts of the U.N. secretariat. The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal for next year included an 87% cut to contributions to the U.N.
“Make no mistake — ,” said Guterres, speaking at a public meeting last Monday. “It may be easier — and even tempting — to ignore them or kick the can down the road. But that road is a dead end.”
UN chief outlines ‘painful’ survival plan for world body
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