Deadline: 6-Jun-25
The Pandemic Fund announced its third Call for Proposals (3rd CfP) to prioritize high-impact investments in: 1) early warning and disease surveillance systems, 2) laboratory systems (human and animal), and 3) strengthening human resources, public health and rural and urban community workforce capacity, including workforce capacity related to human, animal (domestic, wildlife) and environment/ecosystem health.
Further, in line with the Pandemic Fund’s medium-term Strategic Plan, additional emphasis will be placed on strengthening two cross-cutting enablers, National Public Health Institutes (or relevant public institutions) and regional/global networks, organizations, or hubs and the four underlying themes of the Strategic Plan.
Priorities
- Early Warning and Disease Surveillance Systems: A sensitive surveillance system is needed to ensure early warning and to provide information for an informed decisionmaking process during public health events and emergencies. This type of system involves a multisectoral and integrated health system approach, including monitoring outbreaks and emerging diseases in domestic and wild animals, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), community-based surveillance, clinical surveillance, sentinel surveillance systems, and contact tracing during health emergencies, among others. Proposed activities should build on elements of surveillance systems already in place and promote compatibility and interoperability to prevent duplication or fragmentation.
- Laboratory Systems: Laboratories are critical to surveillance, detection, and response. Strengthening laboratory systems requires investments across several areas and sectors, for example, in: a) specimen referral and transport systems to ensure that specimens can be shipped in a timely manner to appropriate reference laboratories, as necessary; b) developing and implementing national biosafety and biosecurity systems that allow for pathogens to be identified, characterized and monitored according to best practice, including activities such as a biological risk management training, country specific biosafety and biosecurity legislation, associated data management, laboratory licensing and pathogen control measures, and ensuring veterinary expertise is represented; c) strengthening laboratory quality management systems; d) building capacity to ensure reliable and timely testing including relay of results; e) ensuring appropriate deployment, utilization, and sustainment of modern, safe, accurate, affordable, and appropriate diagnostic tests and devices across human and animal analysis; and f) establishing and managing diagnostic networks. These investments are needed at the national level as well as across and between countries to strengthen existing networks of reference laboratories and specialized centers linked, for example, to the WHO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) or WOAH.
- Human Resources/Public Health and Community Workforce Capacity: A multisectoral workforce underpins the prevention and early detection of, preparedness for, and rapid response to potential events of concern affecting health, agriculture, and the environment/ecosystem, as required by the IHR and WOAH Standards. The availability and accessibility of a well-trained workforce during “peacetime” and surge capacity during emergencies is essential. Many disciplines within a workforce are critical (e.g., field investigation and contact tracing teams, logisticians, laboratory personnel, animal and environmental health experts, veterinarians, clinicians, communications specialists, farmers and event managers, peer educators and community-based service providers, experts in finance, human resources, supplies, etc.) for prevention and preparedness efforts, building the resilience of communities and for the continuity of health services during an emergency. This priority requires investing in, and planning for, a well-educated, trained and appropriately compensated workforce, to ensure readiness for surges of workforce across sectors during public health emergencies. Training must be based on up-to-date curricula centered around a One Health approach, common standards and competencies, reflecting an interdisciplinary and interoperable workforce for pandemic PPR.
Funding Information
- The total envelope for the 3rd CfP (Phase I and Phase II) is US $500 million.
- The Pandemic Fund Governing Board has established a ceiling on individual grant amounts that can be requested within the overall envelope for the 3rd CfP. Single-country proposals may request up to US$25 million. Multi-country proposals may request up to US$40 million for any one proposal.
Types of Proposals
- There are two types of proposals that will be accepted in Phase I, which include:
- Single-country proposal: This is a proposal submitted by one eligible country along with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of the proposal will occur in and benefit those at the national or sub-national level of the applying country.
- Multi-country proposal: This is a proposal submitted by two or more eligible countries along with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of the proposal will occur in and benefit those at the national or sub-national level of each of the applying countries.
Eligibility Criteria
- A Beneficiary is any Eligible Country or Entity that may benefit from the Pandemic Fund through projects or activities undertaken by an IE to advance the objective of the Pandemic Fund. Such projects or activities can involve the government/public sector and private/non-governmental sector in Eligible Countries.
- Any country that is eligible to receive funding from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and/or the International Development Association (IDA) is eligible (“Eligible Country”), in principle, to receive funding from the Pandemic Fund.
For more information, visit The Pandemic Fund.