KENYA – The new Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) has welcomed Amref Health Africa, the largest health development non-governmental international organization based in Africa, to the Governing Board.
The new fund has selected of Ms Jackline Kiarie, the Regional Programme Manager at the Global Health Security Unit – Amref Health Africa, as the interim sole representative of the global south into the governing board.
With over 15 years of experience providing leadership and technical support to health programmes across Africa, Ms Jackline is a renowned public health professional who is currently leading teams in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout across 24 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.
“The global north will be represented by Mr Elisha Dunn-Georgiou from the Global Health Council – while Nitish Debnath (One Health Bangladesh) and Olya Golichenko (Frontline AIDS, United Kingdom) will act as alternates,” Amref said.
The announcement follows the approval of the establishment of a Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR) by the World Bank Board of Directors, and with broad support from the G20 and beyond.
Amref said on its website that the new fund seeks to provide financing & other forms of support for PPR at national, regional & global levels guided by principles of inclusivity, agility, transparency, and accountability.
“With the continued threat of global health emergencies, there has been an increasing need to step-up investments to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to prevent, prepare for, and respond to future global health threats,” the organization said.
According to Amref, FIF aims at providing a dedicated stream of additional, long-term funding for critical PPR functions in low- and middle-income countries through investments and technical support at the national level as well as at the regional and global levels.
“The new fund is overseen by a Governing Board, which will set the overall work programme and make funding decisions. It includes two voting seats for civil society organization representatives,” the organization highlighted.
Amref further said that meaningful engagement and co-creation from civil society at every stage of the FIF planning will be critical to the transparency and accountability of the processes and impact in the long run.
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