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TRANSPARENCY

We Are Committed To Transparency

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We are an independent Swiss foundation that aspires to be transparent in how we raise and deploy resources and about the impact achieved with those resources. We also want to invite feedback for continuous learning.

 

Our reporting includes commitments detailed in our statutes, our by-laws, and our affiliation agreement with WHO. This includes sharing, each year, a summary of our activities as an organization, our financial statements, and an auditor’s report. These documents are available publicly and included below for ease of reference:

 

 

In addition to these disclosures, below is information around each component of our operating model: resource mobilization; investment in programs; and measuring impact.

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION

The WHO Foundation mobilizes resources to advance the mission of WHO. As reflected in the agreement with WHO, this funding must not pose a conflict of interest with WHO. In addition, it must be aligned with the principles of the WHO Framework of Engagement with Non-State Actors (FENSA), including transparency, openness, inclusiveness, accountability, integrity, and mutual respect. And, consistent with FENSA exclusions, the WHO Foundation will not receive funds from entities that form part of or are controlled by the Tobacco and Arms industries. We are committed to fulfilling these commitments and ensuring transparency to confirm our compliance with them.

 

Our evaluation and receipt of contributions are governed by our Gift Acceptance Policy and include a due diligence and risk assessment. This ensures that contributions are received in accordance with the principles of FENSA and the WHO Foundation’s agreement with WHO; that contributors or counterparties are not listed on United Nations sanction lists; and that there are no conflicts of interest in the potential relationship.

 

If we proceed in engaging with a contributor, we ensure commitment to terms governing the use of a contribution. Agreements are typically completed with contributors providing USD 100,000 or more. This sample contribution agreement details the obligations of the WHO Foundation and its supporters associated with a gift.

 

In order to facilitate tax benefits for contributors, as appropriate and applicable by country, the WHO Foundation works with a network of fiduciary partners to receive some contributions. These organizations transfer funds received from contributors to the WHO Foundation. In the Netherlands, the WHO Foundation is recognized as a Public Benefit Organization and has the tax designation of ANBI (ANBI Publication Requirement Standard Form). Their receipt of funds from the original contributor is still subject to the WHO Foundation’s Gift Acceptance Policy.

 

Information on contributions ultimately received by the WHO Foundation will be shared regularly, with information including the name of the donor, the amount, and the purpose of the contribution. This information will be available for all donors contributing USD 100,000 or more who have provided consent for such disclosure and for contributions only after they are received by the WHO Foundation, which may not include pledges or contributions made to fiduciary partners which have not yet been transferred to the WHO Foundation.

 

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INVESTMENT IN PROGRAMS

Just as it is critical to reflect our obligations and principles in selecting and in completing agreements with donors, these must likewise be reflected in the processes associated with selecting and disbursing resources to programs. In mobilizing resources for WHO, the focus of the WHO Foundation is in advancing WHO’s Global Program of Work and associated Program Budgets. In addition to direct contributions to WHO, the WHO Foundation can direct resources to implementing partners of WHO programs.

Just as we share the source of contributions, the WHO Foundation also discloses recipients of our investments. Its focus in 2021 was on supporting the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the Accelerating Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), including COVAX. The WHO Foundation specifically contributed to WHO, largely through the Solidarity Response Fund, and to the COVAX AMC, with funding from the Go Give One campaign directed to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Since 2022, in addition to supporting these ongoing efforts, WHO Foundation has launched multiple campaigns and appeals. Along with WHO, we launched the Health Emergency Appeal for Ukraine, Human Kind campaign activations, as well the Appeal for the Sahel and Horn of Africa. In February 2023, we launched the Lifesaving Response to Earthquakes in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic.

As the WHO Foundation invests in additional programs, these programs – including the recipients and intended use of funds – will be detailed.

To ensure that there is no conflict of interest when disbursing funds to a program and to avoid any association with a particular donor to the WHO Foundation, funds generated by its resource mobilization efforts are aggregated before disbursement to a recipient, and the disbursement of funds is governed by agreements, including requirements on how funds are used. This agreement, for example, governs the use of funds raised by the WHO Foundation and disbursed to WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to fund the implementation of its Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan.

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MEASURING IMPACT

Monitoring and evaluation of the use of funds mobilized by the WHO Foundation is critical for accountability to contributors and to support future resource mobilization. We are committed to measuring and reporting on impact, and to formulating the return on investment in existing and future programs.

Our approach to measuring impact will build from and be consistent with the monitoring and evaluation frameworks of the organizations we support, including WHO, so additional funds from WHO Foundation do not create unnecessary and inefficient reporting and administrative obligations.

The use of the funds mobilized in the WHO Foundation’s first operational year has been documented by the impact reports of the Solidarity Response Fund and the ongoing sharing of data by COVAX on the COVID-19 vaccines it has secured and delivered. In addition, the Solidarity Response Fund was subject to this recent external evaluation.

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INTERNAL OPERATIONS AND POLICIES

The operating model of the WHO Foundation relies on the work of the people who compose the organization, including its board and staff. And it relies on our internal policies, procedures, and controls. As the WHO Foundation adopts policies, these will be shared for transparency and for input, so we can learn from the best practices of others as we build our organization.

 

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GET IN TOUCH

We hope that the information shared by the WHO Foundation ensures confidence in the sources and use of resources we mobilize, and in the work of WHO that the WHO Foundation supports. We welcome additional questions and suggestions, and we encourage you to be in touch with us by emailing: INFO@WHO.FOUNDATION.

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