We are an independent grant-making foundation that is unique in the area of world health. As the WHO Foundation, our role is to support the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) mission both directly and by supporting WHO’s network of partners on the ground. We are a force for new and better collective solutions. We bring together donors, world health professionals and the WHO network, to create partnerships that drive innovative actions to address the most pressing health challenges of today and tomorrow.
We support WHO in achieving a world in which all people attain the highest possible standard of health and well-being.
Ultimately, we believe that by working together with donors and partners we can address critical health needs and improve the lives of everyone around the world.
OUR MISSION
Is to support WHO in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)3: To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.
OUR VISION
Invest in every life
OUR VALUES
Earn trust through actions. Empower lives through philanthropy.
LEADERSHIP
Read
Thomas Zeltner, former Swiss Secretary of Health (1991-2009), has a long history as an innovative leader in health. He regularly represented Switzerland at the World Health Assemblies and was a member of its Executive Board. Since 1992, he has been Professor at Bern University and is a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also board member of the Medical University of Vienna and chairman of Swiss UNESCO commission. Zeltner is born in Berne. He graduated with a MD from Bern University and is a Doctor of Law (honoris causa) of the University of Neuchâtel.
Read
Read
Anil Soni is a proven innovator in global health who has worked for 20 years in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to expand healthcare access in low and middle-income countries. Before joining the WHO Foundation, he was Head of Global Infectious Diseases at Viatris, working across the pharmaceutical company to accelerate availability of new treatments. Anil was closely involved in the early years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, serving as the Advisor to the Executive Director and then Founding Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight. He later served as CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where he oversaw the rapid expansion of the organization. Anil has been a senior advisor to the Gates Foundation and Born Free Africa. He is an alumnus of McKinsey and Harvard College and serves on the board of The Marshall Project.
Read
Read
Ms. Clare Akamanzi is an International Trade and Investment Lawyer, who is currently the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board and a Cabinet Member. She has served the Government of Rwanda in several senior positions for the last 15 years. Ms. Akamanzi is a Harvard Kennedy School MPA alum, and also holds an LLM (International Trade and Investment) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She was a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and was named one of Africa’s Top 50 Powerful Women by Forbes in 2020.
Read
Read
Bob Carter is a recognized global expert in institutional strategy and fundraising. He is chair of Carter; an international consultancy dedicated to advancing philanthropy worldwide. He previously was Senior Advisor for Changing Our World and Omnicom Non-profit Group and spent 26 years with Ketchum, 15 as President and CEO. Mr. Carter is past chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals International, the National Aquarium, and Boys’ Latin School. He has been a trustee for numerous others, including The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and a Certified Fundraising Executive.
Read
Read
Professor Senait Fisseha is a globally recognized leader in the advancement of reproductive health education and gender equality in Ethiopia and around the world. She currently serves as the Director of Global Programs at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, as well as Chief Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization. She has received numerous awards, including the recognition of her transformative contribution to the Ethiopian Health Sector by the Nobel Peace Prize Winner Abiy Ahmed. Furthermore, she was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans for 2018 by New African magazine. Professor Fisseha earned an undergraduate degree from Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois, M.D. and J.D. degrees from Southern Illinois University, and a certificate in International Human Rights and Comparative Law from the University of Oxford.
Read
Read
Dr. Silvia Gold is the President of Mundo Sano Foundation, whose vision is to change people’s lives affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), by promoting field research across Latin America, Europe, and Africa, contributing to public health policies. Dr. Gold holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she is a member of the National Academy of Pharmacy and Biochemistry. In 2019, she was awarded the Gold Medal from the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Murcia, Spain. Dr. Gold also leads the Consortium for Research, Development and Innovation (R&D+i) on innovative oncology therapies. Together with Hugo Sigman, she founded Groupo Insud and Insud Pharma, a multinational pharmaceutical company. Additionally, she sits on the: Uniting to Combat Executive Board; Advisory Council of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health; Board of Trustees of the Reina Sofia Foundation in Spain; and Economic and Social Council of Universidad Torcuato di Tella.
Read
Read
Dr. Nahed Taher is the founder and CEO of Gulf One Investment Bank, headquartered in Bahrain. She is the first female CEO of a bank in the region and an expert in Islamic finance. She is also the founder, chairman and CEO of SEEDS consulting company, which finances major privatization projects and structures debt for GCC companies. She has represented the Saudi government, the private sector, and chamber of commerce in many high-level areas of international business and banking. Dr. Taher holds dual Masters Degrees in Financial Economics and a PhD in Monetary Economics from Lancaster University in the UK. Dr. Taher has served as a professor and head of the Economics Department at King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU). She is a board member of numerous Saudi private companies and committees.
Read
Read
Rebecca Enonchong is founder and Chief Executive Officer of AppsTech, a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions. She is cofounder of I/O Spaces, a coworking and event space in the Washington DC area for African diaspora entrepreneurs. She is Board Chair of Afrilabs, a network of over 225 hubs in 47 African countries, supporting a community of over 1 million entrepreneurs. She is cofounder and board member of the African Business Angels Network (ABAN), Board Member of the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa Center for Digital Excellence and several other companies and organizations. She was recently appointed to US Export Import Bank’s Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Board. Named as one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Forbes Africa, she is best known as @africatechie on Twitter.
Read
Read
Professor Thuli Madonsela, an advocate of the High Court of South Africa, is the law trust chair in social justice and a law professor at the University of Stellenbosch. She is the founder of the Thuma Foundation, an independent democracy leadership and literacy public benefit organization and convener of the Social Justice M-Plan, a Marshall Plan-like initiative aimed at catalyzing progress towards ending poverty and reducing inequality by 2030, in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thuli Madonsela was the Public Protector of South Africa from 2009 to 2016 and is one of the drafters of South Africa’s Constitution and co-architect of several laws that have sought to anchor South Africa’s democracy. She was named one of Time 100’s Most Influential People in the World in 2014, Forbes Africa Person of the Year in 2016 and one of BBC’s 100 Women.
Read
Read
Gaudenz Silberschmidt is Director, Health and Multilateral Partnerships of the World Health Organization (WHO). He has served WHO in various positions over the last 8 years and, most recently, was centrally involved in setting up the WHO Foundation and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. His role also involves engagement with the private sector and civil society. Before joining WHO, he was Global Health Ambassador representing Switzerland on the WHO Executive Board and in multiple global health negotiations. He graduated with an MD from University of Zurich and a holds a Master’s in International Relations from University of St.Gallen.
Read
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND THE WHO FOUNDATION
WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the directing and coordinating authority on international health, and provides leadership on global environmental health matters, shapes the health research agenda, sets health norms and standards, articulates evidence-based policy options, provides technical support to countries, and monitors and assesses health trends. Whereas WHO has an incredible capacity, through its network of state and non-state partners, to action impactful initiatives, there is only so much it can achieve with its limited resource base. Recognizing this, the WHO Foundation was created to support and complement WHO’s resource mobilization efforts while respecting the inter-governmental nature of WHO’s governance. The WHO Foundation is a non-profit grant-making foundation that aims to strengthen world health by providing funding to address the most critical global health issues. Donors can now access and enrich global health in a way that was never possible before. Partners on the ground benefit from greater resources, while working together enables us to identify projects with the most potential for success. This unique collaboration between the coordinating world health body and donors brings new opportunities to create highly innovative collective solutions to global health issues. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General and Prof. Dr Thomas Zeltner, WHO Foundation Founder and Chair of the Board originally announced the launch of the WHO Foundation at the WHO Covid-19 press conference on May 27th, 2020. Both WHO and the WHO Foundation are headquartered in Geneva, but the Foundation is legally independent from WHO (created under Swiss Law Statutes). WHO and the Foundation are bound together by an Affiliation Agreement, also known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which defines how they interact.
“Health is a global public good, and I believe we can create a world in which everyone can live a healthy and productive life regardless of where they live. WHO is dedicated to this goal and the creation of the WHO Foundation is an opportunity for a seismic shift in global health, redoubling our efforts toward this goal.”
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WHO DIRECTOR-GENERALTHE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
WHO works together with its 194 Member States (countries) to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable. It supports each country in achieving their national health objectives by guiding health policy and strategy development. It provides scientific expertise, while coordinating the efforts of governments and implementing partners, ranging from international organizations and civil society, to academia and research institutions. WHO is currently working towards its 2023 triple billion goal of ensuring a billion more people have universal health coverage, protecting a billion more people from health emergencies, and providing a further billion people with better health and well-being.
THE TRIPLE BILLION TARGETS
UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE
HEALTH EMERGENCIES
HEALTHIER POPULATIONS
Here we answer the questions you most commonly ask.