One of the biggest initiatives to come out of last month’s third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was the Global Financing Facility Trust Fund. Launched in support of the United Nations’ Every Woman Every Child initiative, it was able to align $12 billion in public and private resources towards financing country-led five-year investment plans for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $75 million over five years to the GFF — along with pledges from several governments, donors and private sector companies — in order to kick-start GFF implementation in four front-runner countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
On the sidelines of the Addis conference, Devex spoke with Mark Suzman, president of global policy, advocacy and country programs at the Gates Foundation, on this initiative and other innovative financing mechanisms for health.