WASHINGTON, DC – The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) has awarded up to US$30 million of second-round funding from the GFF Multi Donor Trust Fund to help Ethiopia continue progress in the health and well being of women, children and adolescents. The additional GFF support will be linked to an upcoming World Bank project to help Ethiopia build human capital through health financing reforms and actions to address lagging areas such as neonatal mortality, child stunting and adolescent health.

“Ethiopia has made significant progress in strengthening its health systems and improving the health outcomes of its people,’ said Dr. Lia Tadesse, Minister of Health, Ethiopia. “The additional GFF support will not only help to ensure continuation of lifesaving health services amidst the Covid-19 pandemic but also to accelerate results in neonatal mortality, adolescent health and child stunting in a sustainable way”.  

Since joining the GFF in 2015, Ethiopia has achieved notable results in women, children and adolescents’ health. With a focus to achieving universal health, the government, with support from partners, increased coverage of essential services, especially in underserved regions, and improved the use of services by scaling-up the Community Based Health Insurance Scheme to several districts.

While under-five mortality declined substantially by 2019, neonatal mortality remains persistently high, along with child stunting, suggesting the need to intensify interventions in the health sector and beyond. In addition, there is a need to promote sustainability through an increased share of national spending on health.

To address these challenges, the additional GFF financing will support key reforms to increase the domestic resources allocated to health, focusing on lagging outcomes. Recognizing that Ethiopia’s low Human Capital Index is largely driven by low primary school completion and high stunting prevalence, the government is also keen to take a multisectoral approach while preserving a focus on equity. 

Along with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya and Tanzania, Ethiopia is one of the four countries that joined the GFF in 2015 and is eligible for second round grants in 2020/21. The allocation of a second-round grant is a process undertaken by the GFF’s Trust Fund Committee that reviews how the eligible country, with support from the GFF partnership, is performing in delivering results on original objectives outlined in the country investment case.

Additional second-round grants are expected to be awarded later this year.

About the Global Financing Facility

The Global Financing Facility (GFF) is a multi-stakeholder partnership that is helping countries tackle the greatest health and nutrition issues affecting women, children and adolescents. The GFF Trust Fund is supported by the Governments of Burkina Faso, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, and the United Kingdom; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Susan T. Buffett Foundation; the European Commission; Laerdal Global Health; MSD for Mothers, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The GFF supports governments to bring partners together around a country-led plan, prioritizing high-impact but underinvested areas of health. The GFF Trust Fund acts as a catalyst for financing, with countries using modest GFF Trust Fund grants to significantly increase their domestic resources alongside the World Bank’s IDA and IBRD financing, aligned external financing, and private sector resources. Each relatively small external investment is multiplied by countries’ own commitments—generating a large return on investment, ultimately saving and improving lives. Learn more: www.globalfinancingfacility.org and @theGFF

Contacts:

Nansia Constantinou, Global Financing Facility, +1 (202) 458-5008, nconstantinou@worldbankgroup.org