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HOW WE WORK

The WHO Foundation is investing in a safer and healthier world for future generations

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As a grant-making foundation, we work alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners, providing funding for innovative initiatives with the greatest potential to improve world health. We aim for rapid and transparent results. We encourage collaborations based on aligned interests and big ambitions. We believe in leveraging the strengths and expertise of all partners, while bringing together the resources and funding to achieve our shared goals.

OUR APPROACH

BREAKING NEW GROUND

BREAKING NEW GROUND

We take a scientific innovation-based approach.

We take a scientific innovation-based approach based on WHO’s health guidance. We are prepared to take risks, to try something new that has huge potential, and to try again, until we can provide the evidence needed for a solution to be used more widely. We are inspired by research, new ways of working and technology-led solutions. Our aim is to push forward, and to be more creative with our collaborative actions than has previously been seen in world health.

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RAPID AND FLEXIBLE ACTION

RAPID AND FLEXIBLE ACTION

We bring speed into urgent health matters.

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 ‘Health and wellbeing for all’ (SDG3) is now becoming time critical – the countdown to 2030 is underway. As an agile foundation, leveraging the capabilities of WHO to mobilize partners on the ground, scientists and ex-perts, we can be extremely efficient. What makes us unique is our ability to be agile, flexibly bringing together all the essential people and organizations in world health, and our capability to move quickly, changing direction as the science demands.

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CRAFTED, COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

CRAFTED, COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

We create unique partnerships that bring together passionate people and organizations.

We create unique partnerships that bring together passionate people and organizations with the same big health ambitions. We aim to build partnerships with longevity by developing, enhancing and influencing projects together. We respect everyone involved and believe in sharing information to maximize collaboration and impact.

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TANGIBLE AND TRANSPARENT OUTCOMES

TANGIBLE AND TRANSPARENT OUTCOMES

We target initiatives that deliver efficient, visible results.

At the same time, we encourage innovation and accept risk taking and failures as part of the journey. Through close relationships with all partners, project monitoring is comprehensive. Allocating grants where they have the potential to have the most impact gives us the opportunity to drive significant outcomes. We have a deep understanding of how we want funding to be spent and aim to unite all parties through clear impact communications and real-life achievements.

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Beach crowd India

We encourage collaborations based on aligned interests and big ambitions.

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As a grant-making foundation focused on strengthening world health, we fund programs and initiatives related to the three WHO pillars and essential themes that are the foundations of better health.

The three WHO pillars are: Serve the vulnerable; Keep the world safe; and Promote health. Specifically, three quarters of funding goes direct to WHO, while one quarter goes, through grants, directly to implementing partners.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR THEMES

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All implementing partner and project selections are made in collaboration with WHO, through calls for proposals or scouting for donor-crafted projects

Projects are chosen based on alignment with the mandate and transversal themes of the Foundation. At this point in time, we do not accept unsolicited grant applications. Please check back here for future requests for proposals.

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All of our initiatives are grounded in research and evidence-based approaches, with measuring impact built in from the outset.

We start small, and based on data-driven achievements, we scale up our involvement.

As the WHO Foundation, we aim to be a responsible grant-maker. We bring donors and partners on the ground together, creating connections and teams, sharing results and information, and providing expert analysis, so that together we can discover the best possible world health solutions.

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RESOURCES

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

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Swiss Law Statutes

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