Merck for Mothers Commits Additional US$5 million to Scale and Sustain Key Innovations

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Merck for Mothers—the first private sector financial contributor to the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF)—announced that it was providing US$5 million in new funding to the GFF Trust Fund, bringing the total contribution of Merck for Mothers to US$15 million. This funding will accelerate the uptake of evidence-based and proven innovations in GFF-supported countries.

“Our partnership with the Global Financing Facility has provided tremendous leverage and impact,” said Mary-Ann Etiebet, Lead & Executive Director of Merck for Mothers. “In this next phase of our partnership, we are committed to accelerating the adoption and scale of proven innovations so that governments can harness the value of the private sector towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Merck for Mothers’ financial contributions to the GFF follow the GFF replenishment event in November 2018 that raised more than US$1 billion for the GFF. Merck for Mothers previously contributed US$10 million to the GFF in 2017. This new financing will support governments to introduce innovations in GFF investment cases and leverage other sources of funding to scale up for maximum impact. It complements funding from Laerdal Global Health, which was announced at the November Replenishment event in support of a GFF Innovations-to-Scale initiative.

The GFF’s approach to innovation is tailored to country context with a focus on national health and nutrition priorities for women, children and adolescents. Merck for Mothers’ commitment enables the GFF to support governments to draw on GFF grant resources, World Bank complementary financing and domestic resources to implement evidence-based innovations at scale through national channels. The GFF’s use of both government and strategic implementing partner channels will ensure that innovations can be sustainably mainstreamed and integrated into health and nutrition programs at scale in GFF-supported countries.

“The private sector is a tremendous source of innovative solutions that can be leveraged to improve health and nutrition outcomes. The Global Financing Facility is proud to expand and deepen its partnership with Merck for Mothers to support countries to scale up innovations for women, children and adolescents,” said Mariam Claeson, Director of the GFF.

The GFF’s innovation support will focus on scale and sustainability, building on the work of innovation partners to focus on curating and supporting early-stage innovations to become viable business models and public private partnerships in GFF countries.

Since the GFF was founded in 2015 by the World Bank, the governments of Canada and Norway, the United Nations and other partners, US$532 million in funding from the GFF Trust Fund has been linked to US$3.8 billion in funding from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The more than US$1 billion pledged to the GFF Trust Fund in November 2018 is expected to link to an additional US$7.5 billion in IDA/IBRD resources for women, children and adolescents’ health and nutrition. With additional funding, the GFF will expand to a total of 50 countries by the end of 2023.

More information on the GFF’s private sector work: www.globalfinancingfacility.org/our-partnership/private-sector

About the Global Financing Facility

The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (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; and Merck for Mothers. 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

About Merck for Mothers

Merck for Mothers is a US$500 million initiative to create a world where no woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Drawing on Merck’s history of discovering innovative, life-saving medicines and vaccines, Merck for Mothers is applying the company’s scientific and business expertise—as well as its financial and human resources—to reduce maternal mortality around the world. Learn more at www.merckformothers.com and @MerckforMothers.

Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada.

Contact:

Christina Nelson, Global Financing Facility, +1 (202) 458-4372, cmnelson@worldbank.org