COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund

COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO

Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS FUND?

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for World Health Organization (WHO) is the only way for individuals, corporations, foundations, and other organizations around the world to directly support the work of WHO and partners to help countries prevent, detect, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially where needs are greatest. Money raised through the Fund can be disbursed at speed and flexibly, so it gets where it is most needed as quickly as possible.

The Fund is aligned with the priorities outlined in the WHO COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, outlining the global public health strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Solidarity Response Fund is entering a new phase, supporting WHO’s vital work in 2021 and is being powered by WHO Foundation. The Fund is powered by the WHO Foundation, a Swiss-based foundation, in collaboration with UN Foundation and a global network of fiduciary partners.

To learn more about how the Fund works, read our Overview of the Fund Approach.

HOW TO GIVE TO THE COVID-19 SOLIDARITY RESPONSE FUND FOR WHO

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is a historic opportunity for everyone, everywhere to help support the World Health Organization and its partners’ lifesaving work to prevent, detect, and respond to the unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic. To allow everyone an opportunity to give, we have created multiple fundraising platforms for the fund. You can give in any of the following ways:

Anyone can give directly with a credit card through the online donation website for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

  • Donate by wire to the WHO Foundation

Please make payments to: COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund with the reference code 100-00 to the following accounts details:

Name: Foundation in Support of the World Health Organization
Address : Rue du Lion-d’Or 5-7, 1003 Lausanne, Switzerland
Bank name: Crédit Suisse

Currency: EUR / IBAN: CH44 0483 5229 8768 1200 1
Currency: CHF / IBAN : CH08 0483 5229 8768 1100 0
Currency: USD / IBAN : CH17 0483 5229 8768 1200 2

Clearing number 4835
SWIFT address CRESCHZZ80A

To learn more about wire transfers, contact COVID19Fund@who.foundation

  • Additional Ways to Give

To learn more, contact COVID19Fund@who.foundation

  • Donate in many European countries, directly through the Transnational Giving Europe network. For more information, please click here.
  • Donate in the UK, directly through the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) UK. For more information, please click here.
  • Donate in China directly online or give via wire transfer through the China Population Welfare Foundation (CPWF). Donations made by Chinese residents to CPWF are tax-deductible. For more information, please click here.
  • Donate in Japan directly online or give via wire transfer through the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE). For more information, please click here.
  • Donate in the USA through the UN Foundation. For more information, click here.
WHO CAN DONATE?

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is open to donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, or other organizations around the world. Donors must abide by the WHO Foundation’s gift acceptance policies (which, among other things, prohibits the receipt of funds from firearms and tobacco industries).

For corporate, institutional, and foundation donations, please contact COVID19Fund@who.foundation.

ARE DONATIONS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?

Donations made directly on the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund website www.covid19responsefund.org are tax-deductible for donors based in Switzerland, the USA (thanks to the support of the UN Foundation), and Canada (thanks to the support of KBF Canada).

Tax benefits are also available to donors in many European countries thanks to the support of the Transnational Giving Europe Network, the UK thanks to the support of Charities Aid Foundation UK, China thanks to the support of China Population Welfare Foundation, Japan thanks to the support of the Japan Center for International Exchange, and the USA thanks to the support of the UN Foundation. Please see the above list of fiduciary partners and associated procedures to follow to receive tax benefits. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law of the donors’ country of residence.

WHERE DO THE FUNDS GO?

The WHO Foundation will receive donated funds, which will then be used by the World Health Organization and partners to support countries according to the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. As outlined in the plan, the financial resources raised will go to the areas with the greatest need. Allocations from the Fund are decided by WHO.

HOW ARE FUNDS BEING USED?

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund supports WHO and partners’ work to ensure all countries are able to prevent, detect, and respond to COVID-19. This work is guided by the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which highlights ten priority areas of need:

  1. Coordination, planning, financing and monitoring
  2. Risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management
  3. Surveillance, outbreak investigation and calibration of public health and social measures
  4. Points of entry, international travel and transport, and mass gatherings
  5. Laboratories and diagnostics
  6. Infection prevention and control and protecting the health workforce
  7. Case management, clinical operations and therapeutics
  8. Operational support and logistics
  9. Strengthening essential health services and systems
  10. Covid-19 vaccination

Donations to the Fund enable WHO and partners to:

  • Support countries in the preparation and roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns and ensure the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. A special focus be given to support the most vulnerable populations in humanitarian contexts;
  • Strengthen surveillance systems to better identify the source of infection and suppress transmission
  • Establish and reinforce infection prevention measures and risk communication at national and subnational levels, including a special attention for points of entry, travels and mass gatherings
  • Ensure healthcare workers have the equipment and essential supplies (Personal Protective Equipment – PPE, Oxygen) they need, as well as the most up to date guidance on clinical care and tools
  • Accelerate global research and development efforts for effective treatments
  • Mobilise youth and engage civil society organisations, and enhance transparent communication so that communities have access to the best information to protect themselves.

Over the last year, donations to the Fund helped WHO to send hundreds of millions of pieces of personal protective equipment and testing kits to more than 165 countries all over the world; and to develop accurate informational tools in more than 45 languages, and training courses for nearly five million health workers around the world.

At WHO’s request, the Fund has also disbursed money to:

  • AFRICAN UNION/AFRICAN CDC to strengthen the continent’s response to the pandemic, including minimizing the spread of infection, curtailing the impact of COVID-19 on economies and livelihoods, and ensuring schools are reopened and managed safely.
  • The Big 6 Youth Organizations, to alleviate the pandemic’s negative impact on youth development and reinforce positive contributions of young people in response to the pandemic.
  • CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a key partner leading the financing for research and development for novel vaccines to combat COVID-19, working closely with WHO.
  • UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to support internally displaced people and refugees around the world who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
  • UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, to ensure children and families around the world are equipped with all the evidence-based information and latest WHO guidance as well as locally relevant information to protect themselves from the spread of COVID-19; to support vulnerable countries by providing access to water, sanitation and hygiene, and basic infection prevention and control measures; and to provide access to care for vulnerable families and children.
  • UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to prevent, detect, and respond to COVID-19 for refugee populations in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.
  • WFP, the World Food Programme, to support global logistics services to get vital staff and supplies like personal protective equipment to countries with the greatest need.

To learn more about the impact donations have, please visit our Impact Page.

HOW MUCH ARE YOU HOPING TO RAISE?

Over the past year, much has been achieved by national authorities and communities with the support of WHO, donors and partners, and an unprecedented effort by the scientific community and the private sector. Yet as the global pandemic has grown, so has the scale of the response needed. The updated COVID-19 Strategic Response and Preparedness Plan for 2021 outlines a need for $1.96 billion to help countries and communities that need it most, especially where health systems are weakest, to ensure global and regional coordination of response efforts, and to accelerate and increase research and development to produce vaccines, tests and treatments as fast as possible. Donations to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund quickly get funding where it’s most needed.

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF EACH DONATION WILL GO TO THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION?

Roughly 95% of donations made to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund will go directly to WHO or partners for response efforts, with 5% used by the WHO Foundation or associated fiduciary partners to cover the costs of transactions.

I’VE SEEN OTHER COUNTRIES AND ORGANIZATIONS DONATING TO EFFORTS. HOW IS THIS FUND DIFFERENT?

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is the foremost way for individual donors and other charitable givers to contribute directly to WHO’s global public health response efforts. Funds donated will go directly to support WHO’s work, together with partners, leading and coordinating the global response, helping countries and communities with the greatest need prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic. Donations to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund quickly get funding where it’s most needed.

Many funding announcements have already been made, underlining that people and organizations everywhere are eager to help solve this shared global problem. Many governments, philanthropies, private sector partners, and the UN have made essential funding announcements to support national or local response efforts within a country.

Other important commitments, such as from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, are bolstering economic resilience and recovery in addition to some elements of public health response. Essential donations have also been made to support research and development efforts for therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines.

CAN I EARMARK A GIFT TO A SPECIFIC COUNTRY?

Right now as the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to rapidly change, it is critical and most valuable to have flexibility for vital resources to be quickly allocated where they are most needed, as assessed by WHO and its Director-General. Therefore, it is not currently possible for donors to earmark donations for use in a specific country.

DOES WHO SEND MONEY DIRECTLY TO OTHER LOCAL ACTORS (NGOS/OTHER CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS)?

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, it is clear partners at all levels will play a critical role in preparedness and response efforts. WHO has, will continue to allocate some funds donated through the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to organizations it deems best able to respond to needs. See above for examples of previous distributions.

WHAT KIND OF OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY DOES WHO HAVE FOR THOSE FUNDS THAT IT DISBURSES TO COUNTRY PARTNERS?

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund reports on a quarterly basis of how the donated funds are being used. Please visit our Impact Page for the latest monthly report. WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, UNRWA, Big 6 Youth Organizations, and CEPI have publicly shared on their websites how much money has been donated to support the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and how these funds in their entirety are being spent so that the public can understand how these funds are helping with response efforts.

For all science-related questions about COVID-19, please visit WHO’s COVID-19 resources.