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Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 28 April 2024 - Saudi Arabia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today pledged to work together to help protect 370 million children annually from polio and lift millions out of poverty across 33 Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) member countries. To coordinate the implementation of the new partnership, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will open a regional office in Riyadh.

A total of more than US $620 million was announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting in Riyadh by His Excellency Dr. Abdullah A. Al Rabeeah, Advisor to the Royal Court and Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSrelief) and His Excellency Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel, Minister of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the presence of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Since Africa became wild polio-free in 2020, the only two wild polio endemic countries remaining are Pakistan and Afghanistan. The direct engagement of Middle Eastern countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has helped drive polio cases in those countries down from more than 300 cases in 2014 to 12 in 2023. Until polio cases reach zero and the world is certified polio-free, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) will continue to need resources. This new commitment from Saudi Arabia is the largest multiyear pledge by a sovereign donor towards the current GPEI strategy, ensuring that essential health services are provided to hundreds of millions of children each year.

"Polio is a horrific disease that deserves to be in the history books once and for all," said Bill Gates. "I am proud to see the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, together with partners across the Middle East, step up to help deliver more polio vaccines, measles immunizations, and other vital health services to millions of children every year. This global health investment will help strengthen and build more resilient health systems and communities, at a time of multiple crises around the world. It's also encouraging to see new support for longstanding partnerships like the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, which has been instrumental in lifting millions of people out of poverty."

To accelerate progress toward polio eradication, improved global health, and poverty alleviation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the following commitments today:

• Saudi Arabia has pledged US $500 million over the next five years to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership led by national governments with six partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • This is the largest contribution made by the Kingdom to polio eradication efforts.
  • This contribution will help deliver vital health services along with polio vaccines to underserved populations through the WHO and UNICEF, which are GPEI partners.
• Since polio eradication efforts began, thanks to the leadership of Rotary International, the GPEI has reduced polio cases by 99% globally, eradicated two of three wild poliovirus strains, and helped save more than 20 million people from polio paralysis. Saudi Arabia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have pledged US $3 million and US $15 million respectively over three years to support the Polio Legacy Challenge.
  • As Afghanistan, one of the last polio-endemic countries, approaches critical milestones for polio eradication, the Polio Legacy Challenge will be spearheaded by the ministries of health in countries across the region, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, under the auspices of the WHO EMRO Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks.
  • As a results-based financing initiative, the Polio Legacy Challenge will be administered by the IsDB to help strengthen Afghanistan's health systems and incentivise a continued focus on polio eradication.
• Saudi Arabia will contribute US $100 million to support the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), the largest multilateral development initiative in the Middle East, which aims to lift the poorest out of poverty across 33 IsDB member countries through investments in strengthening primary health care, eliminating preventable infectious diseases, supporting smallholder farming and rural agriculture, and improving basic infrastructure. This commitment made by Saudi Arabia follows a renewed pledge of US $50 million from the UAE to the LLF made earlier this week.
• To support the implementation of the programmes announced today, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will establish a regional office in Riyadh, in Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City, and partner with the MiSK Foundation to support youth engagement and effectiveness of the third sector.

H.E. Dr. Abdullah A. Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSrelief) commented: "In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last remaining polio-endemic countries, we have seen significant progress, yet work remains to be done as the world pushes towards making eradication possible. The pledge from Saudi Arabia today will enhance the innovation and collaboration needed to eradicate this disease. Together with our partners, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Islamic Development Bank and key countries across the region, our support will not only aim to end polio but to also strengthen health systems in these countries."

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also working with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health to ensure a safe and healthy Hajj pilgrimage by improving disease surveillance and testing, bringing safe and clean sanitation solutions to millions of Hajj pilgrims, and providing technical assistance to support Saudi Arabia's vaccine manufacturing capabilities, with the aim of helping low- and middle-income countries access lower-cost vaccines. With this new pledge, Saudi Arabia will serve as an early adopter country for the WHO Global Health Emergency Corps, contributing to global pandemic preparedness and response efforts.

"This investment towards global health isn't just a good to have; it's a strategic imperative for a thriving, more resilient future together, said H.E. Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel, minister of Health of Saudi Arabia, "the world faces many health challenges, and it is part of our responsibility and leadership to contribute with our partners in bridging the gaps, and through concerted efforts, we will be able to alleviate the suffering of many people."

Finally, as part of their collaboration, KSrelief and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are each allocating US $4 million as a humanitarian relief grant in response to acute humanitarian needs in Gaza, which have disproportionately impacted women and children. This funding will be distributed through UNICEF to deliver health interventions and provide access to basic water and sanitation services.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people-especially those with the fewest resources-have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.

Media contact: [email protected]

Notes to editors

Since 2016, the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, a joint venture of partners including the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Center (KSrelief), and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), has played an active role in breaking down the barriers that prevent individuals, organisations, and governments in the lowest-income countries from obtaining the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

The second phase of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF 2.0) was launched last year on the sidelines of the IsDB Annual Meetings 2023, mobilising resources for five years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, the poverty alleviation arm of the Islamic Development Bank. Aimed at supporting 33 member countries of the bank to achieve 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development committed resources of US $150 million, and the Gates Foundation announced its commitment to pledge 20% of the total granted by donors to the LLF, up to US $100 million.

Powered by an innovative blended finance model, the LLF has effectively mobilised US $30 for every $1 in donor grants. This approach has generated substantial concessional financing, catalysing a portfolio worth approximately US $1.4 billion, which spans 37 transformative projects in 22 countries.