This project aims to support the Global Financing Facility (GFF), a multi-donor financing platform that provides country-led, sustainable financing to end preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths. The GFF finances national reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) plans, supports countries in the transition towards sustainable domestic financing of RMNCH, finances the strengthening of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems, finances the development and deployment of global public goods, and contributes to a coordinated financing for RMNCH. Project activities will vary depending on the RMNCH priorities of the recipient government, but may include: (1) Clinical interventions such as increasing access to health services and health facilities from the pre-pregnancy stage onwards for women, newborns and children, (2) Health systems interventions such as strengthening health information systems, increasing access to medical products/technologies, and health systems strengthening; (3) Multi-sectoral interventions such as education, nutrition, and water and sanitation, in addition to strengthening CRVS systems. The GFF supports countries in developing individual RMNCH investment cases to align various sources of financing to national RMNCH priorities. The GFF leverages additional financing for RMNCH by matching grant funding from the GFF Trust Fund to financing from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). GFF country selection is prioritized on the basis of criteria that includes available resources, need, population and income, eligibility for IDA/IBRD loans and the ability to achieve results.
The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) Smarter financing that is more focused on evidence-based, high-impact “best buys” (RMNCH, health systems, multi-sectoral); (2) Scaled up financing from domestic and external sources; (3) more sustainable financing that enables countries to transition in equitable and efficient ways; and (4) Improved capacity to track progress, particularly through civil registration and vital statistics systems.