The EU pledged around €26 million ($30 million) at the Global Financing Facility replenishment event. Hosted by the World Bank, the Governments of Norway and Burkina Faso, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the event takes place in Oslo.
Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, said in Oslo: “With today’s €26 million contribution, the European Union will join the Global Financing Facility as an active member. The contribution will help giving women, children and adolescents, especially the most vulnerable, better access to comprehensive maternal health services.”
The call for replenishment aims at expanding GFF support to 50 countries by 2023. The facility’s goal is to improve the health and quality of life of women, children and adolescents and ending preventable deaths.
Today’s assistance comes on top of the €2.6 billion that the European Union is already investing in health sectors through its development assistance for the period 2014-2020. The overall objective is to ensure healthy lives for all and achieve universal health coverage.
To achieve this, the EU contributes €1.3 billion on bilateral programmes with 17 countries, designed to provide comprehensive health sector support. This is complemented by a further €1.3 billion in contributions to global health initiatives, such as the Global Fund against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; the Vaccine Alliance – GAVI; and UN agencies.
Original source: European Commission
Published on 6 November 2018
