the pandemic fund: guidance note for applicants on the second call

THE PANDEMIC FUND:

GUIDANCE NOTE

FOR APPLICANTS ON

THE SECOND CALL

FOR PROPOSALS

December 22, 2023

THE PANDEMIC FUND:

Guidance Note for Applicants on the

Second Call for Proposals

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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. SCOPE OF THE SECOND CALL FOR PROPOSALS (CfP) 1

A. Priority Areas 1

B. Who can apply and what types of proposals will be accepted 4

C. Submission limits 5

D. Denition and Role of Beneciaries and Implementing Entities (IEs) 6

E. Each proposal must identify at least one approved IE 8

F. Proposal and project completion timeline 8

G. Available funding 8

H. Maximum amount requested per proposal (“Funding Ceiling”) 8

I. Cost Recovery for IEs (“Administration Fees”) 9

III. ALIGNMENT WITH THE RESULTS FRAMEWORK 9

a. Building capacity/demonstrating capability 10

b. Fostering coordination nationally and among countries

regionally and globally 11

c. Incentivizing additional investments in pandemic PPR 11

d. Ensuring administrative/operational efciency of Pandemic

Fund resources 12

IV. GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON CO-FINANCING AND CO-INVESTMENT

UNDER THE SECOND CfP 12

A. Co-nancing requirements for IEs 12

B. Co-investment requirements and policy commitments by countries

and Regional Entities 13

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V. PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS AND CRITERIA 14

A. Evaluation Process 14

B. Secretariat Screening Criteria 15

C. Technical Evaluation of Proposals 16

VI. FUNDING DECISIONS 16

VII. RESULTS MONITORING AND REPORTING 16

VIII. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION 17

IX. KEY DATES AND TIMELINE 17

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1: OBJECTIVES, VALUE ADDITION AND OVERALL SCOPE

OF THE PANDEMIC FUND 18

ANNEX 2: JEE AND PVS INDICATORS 20

ANNEX 3: SUBMISSION PROCESS 22

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THE PANDEMIC FUND:

GUIDANCE NOTE FOR

APPLICANTS ON THE SECOND

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

I. Executive Summary

The Pandemic Fund

has launched its second Call for Proposals (CfP) on December 22,

2023, with an envelope of US$500 million.

While the online application portal for the second CfP will be opened in February 2024,

the purpose of this Guidance Note is to provide early information to interested applicants

so that they may begin preparations and consultations around proposals, internally as well

as with the Pandemic Fund Secretariat and Implementing Entities.

The second CfP continues to prioritize high-impact investments in the following priority

areas, in recognition of the high demand for funding in these areas: 1) early warning

and disease surveillance systems, 2) laboratory systems, and 3) strengthening human

resources/public health and community workforce capacity, including workforce capacity

related to human and animal health, to help countries prevent, prepare for and respond

to health emergencies. Proposals submitted to the Pandemic Fund for funding under the

second CfP must cover one or more of these three priority areas.

Further, regardless of priority areas for the second CfP and future rounds, the

Pandemic Fund requires that particular attention be paid to community engagement,

and in addition, to civil society engagement, gender equity, and other broader

equity considerations, as cross-cutting areas of focus in proposal development and

implementation, and be reected clearly in the proposals submitted.

1 For background information on the Pandemic Fund, please refer to the Pandemic Fund’s Governance Framework , Operations

Manual and website.

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For the 2nd CfP, the 16 countries

that were awarded single-country grants under the rst

CfP are not eligible to receive single-country grants under the second CfP. However,

these countries may be included in “Multi-country” or “Regional Entity” proposals.

Countries that were part of successful multi-country grants and/or covered under

successful Regional Entity proposals in the rst CfP are eligible to apply for both single-

country and multi-country grants in the second CfP.

Unsuccessful applicants from the rst CfP are encouraged to re-apply for this second

CfP. It is recommended that such applicants review the feedback provided to them on

their previous submission before re-applying and ensure that their proposals reect the

considerations in this Guidance Note, as well as subsequent advice to be issued when the

application portal is opened in late February 2024.

Key dates and timeline:

Call for Proposals Announced December 22, 2023

Further guidance released on technical

evaluation & scoring

By late February 2024

Online Application Portal Opens Late February 2024

Call for Proposals Closed May 17, 2024

Funding Decision by the Pandemic Fund Board (exact

date will be decided by the Board in June, once the

number of proposals submitted is known)

By end October 2024

2 The countries that are not eligible for a Single-country grant under the second CfP are: Burkina Faso, Kingdom of Bhutan,

Republic of Cabo Verde, Kingdom of Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of India, Republic of Kazakhstan,

Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, Republic of Paraguay, Republic of Suriname, Togolese

Republic, West Bank and Gaza, Republic of Yemen and the Republic of Zambia.

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I. INTRODUCTION

1. The purpose of this Guidance Note is to provide early information on the Pandemic

Fund’s second Call for Proposals (CfP) to interested applicants so that they may

begin preparations and consultations on proposals, both internally as well as with the

Pandemic Fund Secretariat and Implementing Entities (IEs), ahead of the opening

of the online application portal for formal proposal submission in February 2024. For

background information on the Pandemic Fund, please see ANNEX 1.

II. SCOPE OF THE SECOND CALL FOR

PROPOSALS (CfP)

A. Priority Areas

2. In recognition of the high demand for funding demonstrated in the rst CfP, the

second CfP continues to prioritize high-impact investments in the following three

priority areas: 1) early warning and disease surveillance systems, 2) laboratory

systems (human and animal), and 3) strengthening human resources/public health

and community workforce capacity for human and animal health, to help countries

prevent, prepare for and respond to health emergencies. Proposals submitted to the

Pandemic Fund must cover one or more of these three priority areas. Within each

of these three priority areas, countries and regions may have different investment

needs. Box 1 below provides a brief description of the types of activities that could

be nanced under the second CfP in each of these areas, noting that proposals

may cover one or more of these priority areas and may include activities at the

intersection of the three areas.

3. Grant nancing provided through the second CfP is intended to help countries and

regions strengthen their core capacities in the three priority areas mentioned above,

which present the promise of generating visible impact in terms of prevention and

preparedness to effectively detect and rapidly respond to disease outbreaks. These

priority areas have been selected for their contribution to the objectives of the

Pandemic Fund and are consistent with core capacities for pandemic prevention,

preparedness and response (PPR) that countries are obliged to develop and maintain

under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), World Organization for

Animal Health (WOAH) International Standards, and as articulated in the IHR (2005)

State-Party Self-Assessment Annual Reporting (SPAR) Tool, Joint External Evaluation

(JEE) Tool, the WOAH Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) pathway and other

tools related to One Health, and relevant national and regional health and community

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systems strengthening plans, as applicable, as well as with the Pandemic Fund’s

Results Framework. For reference, JEE and PVS indicators related to each of the

priority areas in the second CfP are listed in ANNEX 2.

Box 1: Examples of types of activities that can be nanced under

the Second CfP

Within each of the three priority areas for the second CfP, countries and regions may have

different investment needs. A brief description of the types of activities that could be nanced

under the CfP in each of these areas is presented here, noting that proposals may cover one or

more of these priority areas and may include activities at the intersection of the three areas:

1. Early Warning and Disease Surveillance Systems: IHR (2005) and WOAH Standards

require rapid detection of public health threats, as well as risk assessment (including

understanding of drivers of emergence), notication, and response. A sensitive,

collaborative surveillance system is needed to ensure early warning and to provide

information for an informed decision-making process during public health events and

emergencies. This involves a multisectoral and integrated health system approach,

including monitoring outbreaks and emerging diseases in domestic and wild animals,

antimicrobial resistance, community-based surveillance, clinical surveillance, sentinel

surveillance systems and contact tracing during health emergencies, among others.

The surveillance system should have the capacity to facilitate cross-sectoral analysis,

coordination and communication in line with a One Health approach and based on

international standards, good governance practices, guidance, and best practices, to

minimize the transmission of zoonotic diseases to human populations. Investments

in this area lead directly to improvements in early detection which can catalyze rapid

responses. Proposed activities should build on elements of surveillance systems

already in place and promote compatibility and interoperability to prevent duplication

or further fragmentation.

The type of surveillance applied depends on the objectives of the surveillance, the

available data sources and the outputs needed to support decision-making. Besides

traditional epidemiological surveillance, early detection of unusual events and health

event surveillance (event-based surveillance) contribute to early warning systems.

Stronger surveillance systems require, for example, investments in: a) state of-the-

art digital tools to enable public health entities (including local hospitals, laboratories

and veterinary services, environment protection services) and local communities

to generate and share condential data with national, regional and global public

health institutions (ensuring common protocols for sharing data), and two-way

information systems so that feedback mechanisms related to the communication on

data are established, including domestic and wild animal and environmental health

surveillance; b) strong and interconnected national and regional centers of expertise for

collaborative inter-sectoral surveillance and sharing of data, building on existing, proven

systems that are interconnected in a global surveillance network , including via sewage

and wastewater monitoring as a sentinel surveillance tool; c) multi-sectoral genomic

sequencing networks and capabilities and exchange of data mechanisms,

including

3 Other investment areas for the Pandemic Fund may be prioritized in future calls for proposals. https://documents1.worldbank.

org/curated/en/733191656685369495/pdf/Establishment-of-a-Financial-Intermediary-Fund-for-Pandemic-Prevention-

Preparedness-and-Response.pdf.

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Box 1 continues next page…

in bioinformatics, to detect new variants and pathogens as they arise in people,

animals and the environment, consistent with the WHO’s 10-year strategy for genomic

surveillance of pathogens with pandemic and epidemic potential; d) training to help

national/regional public health, animal health and environmental health agencies

generate and analyze data to strengthen national capacities for public health

intelligence (e.g. analysis of unstructured data for rapidly identifying and monitoring

concerning health events reported in media); and e) strengthening science-society-

policy dialogue relevant to surveillance issues to ensure engagement with local

communities and relevant stakeholders of the civil society and to promote One Health

collaboration between agencies.

2. Laboratory Systems: Laboratories are critical to surveillance, detection, and response.

Strengthening laboratory systems requires investments across several areas and sectors,

for example, in: a) specimen referral and transport systems to ensure that specimens

can be shipped in a timely manner to appropriate reference laboratories, as necessary;

b) developing and implementing national biosafety and biosecurity systems that allow

for pathogens to be identied, characterized and monitored according to best practices,

including activities such as a biological risk management training, country specic

biosafety and biosecurity legislation, associated data management, laboratory licensing

and pathogen control measures, and ensuring veterinary expertise is represented; c)

strengthening lab quality management systems; d) building capacity to ensure reliable

and timely testing including relay of results; e) ensuring appropriate deployment,

utilization and sustainment of modern, safe, accurate, affordable, and appropriate

diagnostic tests and devices across human and animal analysis; and f) establishing and

managing diagnostic networks. These investments are needed at the national level as

well as across and between countries to strengthen existing networks of reference

laboratories and specialized centers linked, for example, to WHO, FAO or WOAH.

3. Human Resources / Public Health and Community Workforce Capacity:

A multisectoral workforce is key to enabling prevention, early detection, and rapid

response to potential events of concern at all levels of health and community systems,

as required by the IHR and WOAH Standards, at a minimum. The availability and

accessibility of a quality health workforce for surge capacity in emergencies, including

a workforce for surveillance (e.g., eld investigation and contact tracing teams,

logisticians, laboratory personnel, animal and environmental health experts, clinicians,

communications and event managers, and experts in nance, human resources,

supplies, etc.) and for early warning and awareness raising, is critical to prevention

efforts, building the resilience of communities and for the continuity of health services

during an emergency. This priority requires investing in a well-educated, trained and

appropriately compensated workforce, to ensure readiness for surges of workforce

across sectors during public health emergencies and for constant, sustained effort on

prevention and surveillance between emergencies. Training must be based on up-to-date

curricula, common standards, and competencies, reecting an interdisciplinary approach

for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, as well as One Health. Building

regional centers of expertise that can serve as hubs for education and training, as well as

national and regional cadres of primary health care workers, with the necessary training

on pandemic PPR and public health, could play a useful role.

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4. Further, regardless of priority areas for the second CfP and future rounds, the

Pandemic Fund requires applicants to pay particular attention to community

engagement, and in addition, to civil society engagement, gender equity, and

other broader equity considerations, as cross-cutting areas of focus in proposal

development and implementation, and that these considerations be reected clearly

in the proposals submitted. In this context, proposals should demonstrate how local

communities have and will be engaged, along with how Civil Society Organizations

(CSOs) have and will be involved, in proposal development and implementation. In

addition, gender equality and other broader equity considerations should be included

as cross-cutting areas of focus in proposal development and implementation. These

considerations should be reected with evidence in the proposals.

B. Who can apply and what types of proposals

will be accepted

5. Any country that is eligible to receive funding from IBRD and/or IDA

is eligible,

in principle, to receive funding from the Pandemic Fund.

It may be noted, however,

that the 16 countries that were awarded single-country grants under the rst CfP

are not eligible to receive single-country grants under the second CfP.

However,

these countries may be included in “Multi-country” or “Regional Entity” proposals,

as dened in paragraph 8 below. Countries that were part of successful multi-country

grants and/or covered under successful Regional Entity proposals in the rst CfP

are eligible to apply for both single-country and multi-country grants in the

second CfP.

6. Funding proposals (referred to hereafter as “proposals”) may be submitted by

a) An Eligible Country, groups of Eligible Countries, or a Regional Entity or Entities (as

dened below), working with one or more IEs (as dened below); or

b) IEs (as dened below), working with a group of Eligible Countries or with a Regional

Entity or Entities (as dened below), for multi-country or Regional Entity proposals.

4 List of countries currently eligible for IDA and/or IBRD nancing: https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/

articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups

5 Eligible countries may be amended in the future following the amendment process set forth in the Pandemic

Fund Operations Manual.

6 The countries that are not eligible for a Single-country grant under the second CfP are: Burkina Faso, Kingdom of Bhutan,

Republic of Cabo Verde, Kingdom of Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of India, Republic of Kazakhstan,

Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, Republic of Paraguay, Republic of Suriname, Togolese

Republic, West Bank and Gaza, Republic of Yemen and the Republic of Zambia.

7 Please also see ANNEX 3: Submission Process.

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7. Unsuccessful Applicants from the rst CfP are encouraged to re-apply during this

CfP. It is recommended that applicants review the feedback provided to them on

their previous submission before re-applying, and ensure their proposal reects the

considerations in this Guidance Note, as well as subsequent advice to be issued when

the application portal is opened in late February 2024.

8. There are three types of proposals that will be accepted, which include:

a) Single-country proposal: This is a proposal submitted by one eligible country along

with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of the proposal will occur in and

benet those at the national or sub-national level of the applying country.

b) Multi-country proposal: This is a proposal submitted by two or more eligible

countries along with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of the proposal

will occur in and benet those at the national or sub-national level of each of the

applying countries. A proposal from multiple countries in the same region would

also be considered as a “multi-country proposal” and not a Regional Entity proposal.

c) Regional Entity proposal: This is a proposal submitted by a Regional Entity (or

body or platform) along with one or more approved IEs, where the activities of

the proposal will occur in and benet those at the regional or sub-regional level.

A Regional Entity proposal is different than a multi-country proposal because the

primary grant beneciary

is a Regional Entity, and not countries. Some examples

of Regional Entities include the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and

West African Health Organization (WAHO). Other regional bodies such as regional

development communities or economic organizations may also be considered

(e.g., Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of

West African States (ECOWAS), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)).

Regional arms of a global organization, generally consisting of Member States

grouped within a geographical region of that global organization, would typically

not be eligible.

C. Submission limits

9. An individual country may submit a maximum of one single-country proposal.

10. There are no limits on the number of multi-country proposals that can be submitted.

Furthermore, there are no limits on the number of multi-country proposals that any

country may take part in. There are also no limits on the number of proposals an IE

8 See paragraph 12 below.

9 This does not include Multi-country or Regional Entity proposals.

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may take part in.

However, evidence of coordination of, and coherence among

single-country and multi-country proposals will be required when a country is

involved in several proposals.

11. Regional Entities may only submit a maximum of one proposal for the same

geographic area (i.e., Regional Entities may submit multiple applications, but they

cannot cover the same sub-region). Regional Entities awarded funding in the rst CfP

are not eligible to submit another proposal that covers the same geographic area that

was awarded funding in the rst CfP.

D. DenitionandRoleofBeneciariesandImplementing

Entities(IEs)

12. Beneciaries are dened as:

a) Any Eligible Country that may benet from the Pandemic Fund through projects

or activities undertaken by an Implementing Entity (IE) to advance the objective

of the Pandemic Fund; such projects or activities can involve the government/

public sector and private/non-governmental sector in Eligible Countries; and

b) Regional Entities, bodies, or platforms that are specialized technical institutions

established by the governments of one or more Eligible Country (-ies) to support

their public health initiatives and strengthen pandemic PPR capacity.

13. As a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) hosted by the World Bank, the Pandemic

Fund channels its nancing to Beneciaries through its approved IEs, which

provide support for project implementation. IEs serve as the “intermediaries”

between the Pandemic Fund and Beneciaries. IEs supervise the implementation

of projects or programs funded by the Pandemic Fund. As per the guidelines for

FIFs

, the Pandemic Fund Governing Board directs funds to Beneciaries via IEs,

on a pass-through

basis. Each IE applies its own policies and procedures (including

operational, duciary and safeguards policies and procedures) in transferring funds

to Beneciaries and supporting Beneciaries to implement project activities and is

responsible for supervising the use of funds and activities carried out therewith.

The Pandemic Fund Secretariat does not have direct supervision of the funds

or activities.

10 This is grounded in the rationale that IEs are encouraged to collaborate on proposals.

11 Source: FIF Management Framework, Chapter 1, Paragraph 3.

12 Source: FIF Management Framework: These transfers, carried out by the trustee on instruction from the respective FIF

secretariat on behalf of its governing body, are largely carried out on the basis of Financial Procedures Agreements (FPAs)

typically entered into between the Trustee and an implementing entity.

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14. As per the Operations Manual

, the currently approved list of thirteen (13) IEs is as

follows: African Development Bank; Asian Development Bank; Asian Infrastructure

Investment Bank; European Investment Bank; Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations; Inter-American Development Bank; International Finance

Corporation; UNICEF; World Bank; World Health Organization; Gavi, the Vaccine

Alliance; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and the Coalition

for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Eligible IEs may participate in the

Pandemic Fund as IEs by entering into a Financial Procedures Agreement (FPA) with

the Trustee. After entering into FPAs, IEs may submit Funding Proposals developed

with Beneciaries to the Pandemic Fund.

15. IEs will serve according to their existing scope and mandate, as laid out in the

Governance Framework and Operations Manual, including:

a) administering the FIF funds transferred to it, including the use of funds and

activities carried out therewith, in accordance with (i) its applicable policies and

procedures and (ii) the provisions of the Financial Procedures Agreement and

the applicable terms and condition under which Allocations to the IE have been

approved, including the applicable provisions of this Governance Framework and

the Operations Manual;

b) conducting discussions with Beneciaries of the FIF on projects and activities that

can benet from FIF support, as appropriate;

c) providing implementation and/or implementation support to the Beneciaries of

FIF funding, as applicable;

d) providing nancial and progress reporting to the Governing Board through the

Trustee and the Secretariat; and

e) cooperating on reviews and evaluations of the FIF under terms acceptable

to the IEs.

16. Proposals are approved by the Governing Board on the basis of, and administered in

accordance with, the applicable policies and procedures of the designated IE and its

obligations under the Financial Procedures Agreement (FPA).

17. CSOs, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other entities may be

contracted as project delivery partners by IEs or Beneciaries, per the applicable

policies and procedures of the IEs involved. Civil society engagement will be

considered within the technical evaluation criteria, and therefore it is important that

these delivery partners and Beneciaries are involved meaningfully in the proposal

development process, in addition to implementation and monitoring and evaluation.

13 Source: Operations Manual, paragraph 7.

14 Source: Governance Framework, paragraphs 29, 30, and Operations Manual, paragraph 7.

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E. EachproposalmustidentifyatleastoneapprovedIE

18. Proposals must identify at least one approved IE; the Pandemic Fund cannot

provide grants for projects that do not involve at least one of the approved IEs.

F. Proposal and project completion timeline

19. Proposals must demonstrate that the components and activities to be funded using

the grant requested from the Pandemic Fund will be completed within three years

from the date of approval by the IE’s relevant authority, bearing in mind that the

overall project completion date may extend beyond the three-year period. Projects

for which funding is being requested should be slated for nal approval by the

executive board or other relevant authority

of the concerned IE(s) and relevant in-

country/regional Pandemic PPR multi-stakeholder forum by no later than the end of

the rst quarter of Calendar Year (CY) 2025.

Funds will be committed by the Trustee

to the IE in accordance with the process detailed in the Operations Manual and the

Financial Procedures Agreement (FPA).

20. Proposals must fulll all the requirements as set out in the Governance Framework

and Operations Manual as well as those described in this document in order to be

considered. Additional requirements are detailed in ANNEX 3.

G. Available funding

21. The envelope for the second CfP is US$500 million.

H. Maximum amount requested per proposal

(“Funding Ceiling”)

22. The Pandemic Fund Governing Board has established a ceiling on individual grant

amounts that can be requested within the overall envelope for the second CfP.

15 For Multilateral Development Banks, this would be their Executive Boards.

16 Projects that have already been approved by the executive boards or other relevant authorities of IE(s) and in need of

additional nancing can also be considered for support through the Pandemic Fund to complement the foreseen additional

nancing provided by the IE.

17 See paragraph 15 in the Operations Manual and Section 2.2 (b) and (c) of the FPA.

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Single-country proposals may request up to US$25 million. Multi-country proposals

may request up to US$40 million for any one proposal. Regional Entity proposals

may request up to US$40 million for any one proposal. Please note that proposal

budgets will be assessed in the technical evaluation, bearing in mind principles of

“value for money”.

I. CostRecoveryforIEs(“AdministrationFees”)

23. Each IE will follow its own policy for the recovery of costs, including for the

preparation and supervision of projects nanced using Pandemic Fund funding,

with a focus on maximizing efciency and value for money.

24. A cap on IE administrative fees at 7% (as a percentage of amount requested) has

been instituted for activities related to preparation, administration and supervision

of Pandemic Fund funds. However, for projects operating in Challenging Operating

Environments (COE), Fragile and Conict-Affected Situations (FCS), Small Island

Developing States (SIDS) contexts or other exceptional circumstances, the cap could

be up to 10% of the grant amount requested by the IE, provided that the proposal

includes a clear justication of the rationale behind the higher fee and substantiate

this with evidence. The appropriateness and value for money of IE costs beyond

7% will be part of proposal assessment. IE Administrative Fees should not include

any Technical Expertise or Monitoring and Evaluation activities, as these should be

accounted for in the project cost.

III. ALIGNMENT WITH THE

RESULTS FRAMEWORK

25. Proposals are expected to demonstrate their alignment with the Pandemic Fund’s

Results Framework and how the proposed activities will deliver results along with one

or more of the three priority areas of this CfP and contribute to impact as measured

by the relevant associated metrics (see also Section V below on the criteria through

which proposals will be evaluated). The Pandemic Fund Results Framework, and

associated metrics and indicators, would need to be fully integrated into proposals;

where specic indicators are not relevant to the proposed project or activities, an

explanation will need to be provided for their exclusion.

26. The Results Framework covers results, and associated metrics and indicators, along

four key dimensions: a) building capacity/demonstrating capability; b) fostering

18 See paragraph 25 in the Operations Manual.

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coordination nationally (across sectors within countries), and among countries

regionally and globally; c) incentivizing additional investments in pandemic PPR;

and d) ensuring administrative/operational efciency of Pandemic Fund resources.

a. Building capacity/demonstrating capability

27.

Proposals will be required to demonstrate how the project will help improve

applicable JEE, PVS, and SPAR scores and lead to improved capabilities in

comprehensive disease surveillance and preparedness to respond to health

emergencies. Specically, the proposal should articulate which, among the applicable

JEE third edition indicators and PVS pathway critical competencies from those

listed below, would be targeted for improvement through the project, using the

grant requested from the Pandemic Fund and other associated sources, and how the

project will contribute to progress towards a demonstrated level of capacity (goal of

level 4 or 5) on one or more of the indicators listed in ANNEX 2.

28. If applicable, proposals may also address other JEE areas listed in the Pandemic

Fund Results Framework, including in infection prevention and control (IPC), risk

communication and community engagement (RCCE), capacities related to zoonotic

diseases, health emergency management, and immunization, as outlined in ANNEX

2, while prioritizing areas related to surveillance, laboratory capacity, and human

resource strengthening.

29. If neither a JEE nor a PVS has been conducted, the proposal should clarify which

other internationally known assessments, such as SPAR, were used and how the

project will help strengthen core capacities along one or more of the identied

priorities, linking to National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) or other

national and/or regional plans. Further, if no national assessments have been

conducted, the proposal should clearly articulate its plans to undertake such

assessments as part of the project and how impact will be measured in alignment

with JEE/SPAR/PVS indicators.

30. Proposals will be required to contain the following:

a) Well-dened activities clearly aligned to JEE/SPAR/PVS indicators, including latest

JEE/SPAR/PVS score for each relevant indicator (where available / if known);

b) The output/performance indicators that will be used to measure completion

of activities, and means of verication;

c) Baselines (where applicable), clear targets and timelines for achievement

of each activity; and

d) To the extent possible, outcome level performance/coverage indicators

that allow for measuring progress before changes of scores in JEE/SPAR/PVS

can be achieved.

Additional information will be provided in the application portal and technical

evaluation criteria and scoring methodology in late February 2024.

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31. Capabilities. Where available, it would be useful for proposals to provide a clear

description of the current state of implementation of the 7-1-7 approach, and use

of inter-action reviews (IAR), after-action reviews (AAR), or early action reviews

(EAR) for outbreak review. If these are not yet established, the application could

include a clear description of any plans to implement the 7-1-7 approach and

regular IAR/AAR/EAR.

b. Fostering coordination nationally (across sectors within countries),

and among countries regionally and globally

32.

One of the goals of the Pandemic Fund is to foster a coordinated, coherent, and

community-led approach to pandemic PPR. Accordingly, proposals will be required

to clearly demonstrate how the project brings together key institutions, networks

and regional platforms (as applicable) engaged in pandemic PPR to ensure a co-

created, coordinated, and coherent approach between and among the applicant(s)

and partners (e.g., by aligning support of different partners around a government

strategy or national or regional plan, leveraging innovation and/or triggering new

policy commitments and actions). In this context, while the involvement of at least

one IE is a requirement, proposals will be required to: i) highlight the engagement

of other IEs that are involved in the space being covered by the proposed project

and how collaboration will be achieved, as applicable; ii) articulate how various

relevant sectors, including health and others, have and will contribute to the project;

iii) demonstrate, with supporting evidence, the co-ownership and co-creation of the

project by all relevant parties, and their joint commitment to implementation.

In this context, it may be noted that the Pandemic Fund places a strong emphasis

on ownership by Beneciaries. It also places a strong emphasis on the participation

of CSOs, community-led organizations and populations who are marginalized, in the

development and implementation of proposals.

c. Incentivizing additional investments in pandemic PPR

33.

The Pandemic Fund seeks to incentivize nancial and policy commitments from

countries, Regional Entities and IEs as well as attract additional, new funds from

other sources. To measure the Pandemic Fund’s effectiveness in these areas, the

Results Framework includes metrics to capture the extent to which Pandemic

Fund resources complement and/or strengthen existing pandemic PPR/global

health security efforts, the extent to which new funding sources are secured as a

result of the Pandemic Fund grant, and the extent to which the capacities built by

Pandemic Fund - supported projects can be sustained, following project completion.

To this end, proposals should articulate clearly how the project leverages the

Pandemic Fund grant to catalyze nancing and policy commitments from countries,

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Regional Entities, IEs and other sources, and how sustainability will be achieved

once the project is completed. Section IV provides guiding principles on co-

nancing and co-investment.

d. Ensuring administrative/operational efciency of Pandemic

Fund resources

34.

The Pandemic Fund will operate with high standards of transparency and

accountability to ensure that resources are disbursed in a timely manner and used

efciently to address pandemic PPR needs. To this end, each project should include

schedules for the commitment and disbursement of resources to projects and

present project costs, including the cost of monitoring and evaluation of the outputs

and impact of the work, and IE costs related to preparation, administration and

supervision. The Results Framework includes metrics to capture these elements.

35. People are affected by infectious disease outbreaks differently. To build pandemic

PPR capacity effectively and efciently, projects should be developed with these

differences in mind. They should help promote greater gender equality and broader

health equity given that gender equality and broader health equity affect and are

affected by pandemic PPR. The Results Framework includes a metric that captures

the extent to which Pandemic Fund – supported projects accomplish this.

IV. GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON CO-FINANCING

AND CO-INVESTMENT UNDER THE

SECOND CfP

A. Co-nancingrequirementsforIEs

36. Co-nancing is dened as “

the nancial resources required from Implementing

Entities (IEs) and/or other sources (e.g., bilateral aid agencies, philanthropies

and potential future private sector sources of funding), in addition to the grant

requested/received from the Pandemic Fund, to implement the Project or the part of

the Project for which a Funding Proposal has been submitted.

”

37. Applicants are highly encouraged to identify co-nancing for projects and

to present this clearly in their proposals. While co-nancing may take the form

of nancial or in-kind contributions, IEs are encouraged to provide nancial co-

19 Source: Guiding Principles on Co-nancing, Co-investment, and Country Ownership, page 4.

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nancing for the project from their own resources as well as to help mobilize

additional nancial co-nancing for the project from other sources (e.g., bilateral aid

agencies, philanthropies). IEs are also encouraged to work with applying countries or

Regional Entities, as applicable, to encourage co-investments (see below). While no

minimum co-nancing amount has been set for this CfP, the total amount and nature

of co-nancing for each project, relative to the request for grant nancing, will be

considered when evaluating the proposals, which will be detailed in the updated

evaluation criteria and scoring methodology. This document will be available on the

Pandemic Fund’s website by late February 2024.

B. Co-investment requirements and policy commitments

by countries and Regional Entities

38. Co-investment is dened as “

nancial resources and linked non-monetary policy

commitments from Co-investor(s)

, in addition to the grant from the Pandemic Fund, to

implement the Project or the part of the Project for which a Funding Proposal has been

submitted; Co-investment could also include policy commitments and linked projects

from the Co-investor(s) that would complement funding from the Pandemic Fund.

”

39. All applicants will be required to demonstrate a focus on impact, for example,

by describing new and legacy policy commitments and implementation plans

related to the priority areas of this CfP, which would normally benet from broad

discussions and negotiations among project partners. Such commitments should

support national planning, such as achieving the objectives of National Action Plan

for Health Security (NAPHS), One Health and other related national and regional

health and community systems strengthening plans, or other national and/or

regional plans and beyond, as applicable, and be aligned with or contribute to the

project’s objectives more broadly.

40. Co-investor and Regional Entity applicants are strongly encouraged to also

demonstrate nancial commitments towards the overall project in the form of

nancial co-investment for the project. Co-investment plans should explain how

national co-investments will be leveraged along with how investments from donors

and other sources will be leveraged, incentivized and complement Pandemic Fund

funding. It will also be important to demonstrate the additionality of this co-

investment, which is key to avoiding crowding-out other health investments.

This must be demonstrated in the proposal, by detailing how the nancial

co-investment will be nanced and sustained. However, the Pandemic Fund

understands that nancial co-investment can be challenging in certain country

contexts (e.g., for countries in debt-distress) and high-risk settings. For countries

with less ability to co-invest with domestic nancing, to complement Pandemic

20 Co-investor is dened as a Beneciary country. See Governance Framework, vii. Glossary.

21 Source: Guiding Principles on Co-nancing, Co-investment, and Country Ownership, page 4.

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Fund funding, countries could, for example, include plans to leverage national

investments and incentivize the use of Multilateral Development Bank country

lending for preparedness.

This will be further elaborated on and considered

in the evaluation criteria and scoring methodology, which will be released in

February 2024.

41. No minimum threshold for co-investment has been established for this CfP.

However, the amount and nature of co-investment provided relative to the request

for funding from the Pandemic Fund will be considered in the evaluation criteria

and scoring methodology; this document will be available on the Pandemic Fund’s

website by late February 2024.

V. PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

AND CRITERIA

A. Evaluation Process

42. Eligibility assessment by the Secretariat: The Secretariat will assess proposals for

eligibility based on compliance with the requirements set out in this CfP and laid out

in Section II, as well as consistency with the Governance Framework and Operations

Manual. The Secretariat will forward the eligible, complete proposals to the Technical

Advisory Panel (TAP) within three weeks of the closing of the application submission

portal. The Secretariat may reach out directly to applicants when there is a need

for clarication or there is missing information. During the weeks following the

submission deadline, the Secretariat requests applicants to monitor their e-mail

inboxes daily for correspondence from the Secretariat and to respond to queries in

an expeditious manner.

43. Review by the TAP.

The TAP will evaluate proposals to ensure technical soundness,

cost efciency, t within the pandemic PPR and the wider health nancing

architecture, relevance to the objectives of the Pandemic Fund, impact, equity,

inclusivity and multisectoral/multi-stakeholder involvement, and alignment with

requirements set out in the CfP. TAP members may request clarication and

additional information from applicants during the review period, which is tentatively

scheduled for June – August 2024. During this period, applicants will be requested

to monitor their inboxes regularly and respond to requests for information in an

22 Source: Guiding Principles on Co-nancing, Co-investment, and Country Ownership, page 5.

23 Please see TAP Terms of Reference here: https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/

a6be826383791a497fd1330fa93ec1d8-0200022022/original/TAP-ToRs-Oct-13-2022-FINAL.pdf

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expeditious manner. Proposals are reviewed anonymously, and the identity of

reviewers will not be revealed to applicants.

B. Secretariat Screening Criteria

44. Each proposal will rst be screened by the Secretariat for the following

considerations:

a) Was the proposal received prior to the deadline and is it complete with

all necessary supplemental documents enclosed?

b) Is the proposal clear and legible and submitted in English?

c) Is the applicant eligible?

d) For single and multi-country proposals, does it include at least one eligible

country as a Beneciary?

e) Have the submission limits been respected?

f) Does the proposal include at least one of the approved IEs to channel funds?

g) Does the proposal focus on activities addressing at least one priority area?

h) Is there consistency across the gures reported in various parts and tables

of the application?

i) Has the cap on amount requested (up to US$25M for Single-country

proposals and up to US$40M for Multi-country and Regional Entity

proposals) been respected?

j) Has the cap on IE administrative fees (as a percentage of amount requested)

of 7% been respected, and for any amounts over 7% (and up to 10%), has

justication been provided?

24 “The Secretariat will screen each Funding Proposal to ensure consistency with the Governance Framework and Operations

Manual, as well as compliance with the requirements set out in the relevant Call for Proposals, utilizing a process and timeline

agreed upon by the Governing Board and articulated in each Call for Proposals.” Pandemic Fund Operations Manual, paragraph 12.

25 “Should the Secretariat nd that a Funding Proposal does not comply with the Governance Framework and the Operations

Manual, such Funding Proposal may be returned, on a one-time basis, for resubmission within a stipulated time period. If, after

one round of revisions, the Secretariat nds a Funding Proposal to be non-compliant, such Funding Proposal would not be

eligible for consideration.” Pandemic Fund Operations Manual, paragraph 12.

26 Please refer to Section II.B

27 Please refer to Section II.B

28 Please refer to Section II.C

29 Please refer to Section II.D

30 Please refer to Section II.A

31 Please refer to Section II.H

32 Please refer to Section II.I

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C. Technical Evaluation of Proposals

45. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to the TAP for evaluation. The technical

evaluation criteria and scoring methodology, which will be similar to those of the rst

Call for Proposals, is currently being strengthened and updated and will be released

alongside the opening of the portal in February 2024.

VI. FUNDING DECISIONS

46. Proposals reviewed by the TAP, along with accompanying written assessments and

recommendations prepared by the TAP, will be submitted to the Governing Board

for funding allocation decisions. The Governing Board will make funding decisions by

the end of October 2024. The exact date will be agreed on by the Board in June 2024

after the number of proposals received is known.

47. All recommendations from the TAP are advisory to the Governing Board, which has

full control over any decisions or actions regarding any proposals. The Governing

Board will approve allocations to proposals, considering the availability of funding as

reported by the Trustee, and based on an agreed set of funding allocation principles

to guide prioritization.

Funding decisions for commitment by the Trustee can only

be approved against Currently Available Resources.

48. The announcement of funding decisions by the Governing Board will be made in a

press release shortly after the Board decides on funding decisions, and successful

applicants will be contacted by the Secretariat. Proposals not awarded funding will be

provided feedback on their proposals.

VII. RESULTS MONITORING

AND REPORTING

49. All projects and activities supported under the Pandemic Fund have explicit

commitments to monitoring, evaluation, learning and knowledge efforts during

implementation following the standards, procedures and requirements of the IEs

directly concerned. Each project that receives funding from the Pandemic Fund will

report annually to the Secretariat on progress and results for all activities, including

33 The Board will develop and agree on a set of principles to prioritize the allocation of funding to proposals under this CfP.

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reporting on core indicators of the Results Framework as well as project level

indicators. A core set of project level indicators and the reporting template are being

developed, and the same template will be used by all projects to ensure a streamlined

reporting process. The Secretariat will consolidate reporting into an annual portfolio

impact/results report and submit it to the Governing Board. The accuracy of all

reporting is the responsibility of the originating project and IEs. The standardized

format and contents to be used for the IE reports will be agreed upon with the

Governing Board. IEs are also required to comply with all reporting requirements set

out in the Operations Manual and Financial Procedures Agreement (FPA).

VIII. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

50. Information in proposals approved by the Governing Board may be publicly

disclosed on the Pandemic Fund website and/or otherwise made public.

Additionally, for approved proposals, reports on progress provided to the

Pandemic Fund, including nancial and programmatic information, will be made

public through the Pandemic Fund’s Annual Impact and Progress Report.

IX. KEY DATES AND TIMELINE

Call for Proposals Announced December 22, 2023

Further guidance released on technical

evaluation & scoring

By late February 2024

Online Application Portal Opens Late February 2024

Call for Proposals Closed May 17, 2024

Funding Decision by the Pandemic Fund Board

(exact date will be decided by the Board in June, once the

number of proposals submitted is known)

By end October 2024

51. Information about the application submission process will be released at the time

that the portal is opened but has also been included as Annex 3 to this document.

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ANNEX 1: OBJECTIVES, VALUE ADDITION AND

OVERALL SCOPE OF THE PANDEMIC FUND

1. The Pandemic Fund is a collaborative partnership among sovereign and non-

sovereign donors, co-investor countries, and CSOs. It was established in September

2022 as a joint undertaking of the World Bank and the World Health Organization

(WHO). It is a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF), and the World Bank hosts the

Secretariat and serves as Trustee.

2. As per the Pandemic Fund’s Governance Framework and Operations Manual,

approved by the Pandemic Fund’s Governing Board in September 2022, “

the

objective of the Pandemic Fund is to provide a dedicated stream of additional, long-

term funding for critical pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR)

functions in International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank

for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) eligible countries, through investments

and technical support at the national level, as well as at the regional and global levels.

The Pandemic Fund is expected to support and reinforce capacity building and

implementation of pandemic PPR under the International Health Regulations (IHR)

(2005) and other internationally endorsed legal frameworks, consistent with a One

Health

approach.

”

3. The Pandemic Fund is expected to add value in the following ways:

 First, it will help bring additionality in nancial resources for pandemic PPR,

including through the mobilization of non-ODA resources, for example, from

philanthropies.

 Second, nancing from the Pandemic Fund could be used to incentivize countries

to invest more in pandemic PPR, including through blending of MDB resources to

further increase concessionality and matching of domestic resources.

 Third, by bringing together key institutions engaged in pandemic PPR and

health system nancing the Pandemic Fund will promote a more coordinated

and coherent approach to pandemic PPR strengthening by linking nancing

with existing, country-level planning and prioritization processes, thereby

strengthening alignment and complementarity of pandemic PPR and health

system strengthening and reducing transaction costs for client countries. Better

coordinated support also creates conditions for a more systematic dialogue about

domestic nancing for pandemic PPR.

34 One Health is collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach — working at the local, regional, national, and global

levels — with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants,

and their shared environment.

35 Source: Pandemic Fund Governance Framework, paragraph 5, and Operations Manual, paragraph 2.

36 Source: Pandemic Fund Governance Framework, paragraph 5.

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4. Furthermore, as stated in the Governance Framework, the following key principles

underpin the Pandemic Fund’s design

: First, it complements the work of existing

institutions that provide international nancing for pandemic PPR, drawing on their

comparative advantages. Second, it is designed to

catalyze

funding from private,

philanthropic, and bilateral sources. Third, it will serve as an

integrator

rather than

become a new silo that only furthers fragmentation. Fourth, it has the

exibility

work through a variety of existing institutions and adjust over time as needs and the

institutional landscape evolve. Fifth, its structure is designed to reect

inclusivity

while ensuring

streamlined and efcient governance and operating arrangements

Sixth, it will operate with high standards of

transparency

and

accountability

5. The Pandemic Fund will allocate additional nancing where investments are most

urgently needed to bolster pandemic PPR for COVID-19 and future pandemics,

addressing key capacity gaps at all levels, including, but not limited, to the following

areas, as established in the Operations Manual

 Strengthen country-level pandemic PPR capacity by addressing capacity and

capability gaps at country and local level in core domains of the International

Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) and the World Organisation for Animal Health

(WOAH) International Standards, including disease surveillance, laboratory

systems, emergency communication, coordination and management, critical health

workforce capacities, and community engagement. The Pandemic Fund will also

strategically invest in health systems at community and primary health care levels to

strengthen synergies between the health system and pandemic PPR capacity.

 Build regional and global capacity by expanding support to regional and global

institutions across multiple domains, including surveillance, reporting and

information sharing, shared public health assets, regulatory harmonization, capacity

to support public health workforce, and capacity for coordinated development,

procurement, distribution and deployment of countermeasures and essential

medical supplies.

 Support technical assistance, analytics, learning and convening. Financial support

to countries and regional/global institutions will be complemented by activities to

elevate the pandemic PPR agenda, support cross-country learning, and promote

collective accountability. This could include peer-to-peer learning, learning events,

targeted technical assistance, systematic monitoring of pandemic PPR capacities

and domestic spending on pandemic PPR.

6. On July 19, 2023, the Pandemic Fund’s Governing Board awarded a rst round of

grants totaling US$338 million that will mobilize over $2 billion in additional nancing

to help 37 countries strengthen their capacity to prevent, prepare for, and respond

to pandemics. Over 30% of the grants allocated are for projects in sub-Saharan Africa

37 Source: Pandemic Fund Governance Framework, paragraph 6.

38 Source: Pandemic Fund Operations Manual, paragraph 3.

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and over 75% of the projects supported by the rst Call are in low and lower-middle

income countries. The selected projects will receive funding to strengthen early

warning and disease surveillance systems, laboratory systems, and human resources

and health workforce.

ANNEX 2: JEE AND PVS INDICATORS

Please nd below some of the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and Performance of

Veterinary Services (PVS) indicators related to each of the priority areas and other areas of

the Pandemic Fund Results Framework.

JEE and PVS indicators related to the three priority areas:

a) Surveillance and early warning systems

i) JEE D2.1 Early warning surveillance function

ii) JEE D2.2 Event verication and investigation

iii) JEE D2.3 Analysis and information sharing

iv) JEE P4.2 Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

v) JEE P5.1 Surveillance of zoonotic disease

vi) JEE PoE1 Core capacity requirements at all times for Points of Entry (PoEs)

(airports, ports and ground crossings)

vii) PVS II-3 Quarantine and border security

viii) PVS II-4 Surveillance and early detection

ix) PVS II-9 AMR and antimicrobial use

b) Laboratory systems

i) JEE D1.1 Specimen referral and transport system

ii) JEE D1.2 Laboratory quality system

iii) JEE D1.3 Laboratory testing capacity modalities

iv) JEE D1.4 Effective national diagnostic network

v) JEE P7.1 Whole-of-government biosafety and biosecurity system in place for

human, animal and agriculture facilities

vi) JEE P7.2 Biosafety and biosecurity training and practices in all relevant sectors

(including human, animal and agriculture)

vii) PVS II-1 Veterinary laboratory diagnosis

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c) Human resources/workforce strengthening

i) JEE D3.1 Multisectoral workforce strategy

ii) D3.2 Human resources for implementation of IHR

iii) D.3.3 Workforce training

iv) D3.4. Workforce surge during a public health event

v) PVS I-1 Professional and technical stafng of the Veterinary Services

vi) PVS I-2 Competency and education of veterinarians and veterinary

paraprofessionals

vii) PVS I-3 Continuing education

JEE and PVS indicators related to other areas of the Pandemic Fund Results Framework:

d) Infection prevention and control (IPC)

i) R4.1 – IPC programmes

ii) R4.2 – Healthcare associated infections (HCAI) surveillance

iii) R4.3 – Safe environment in health facilities

e) Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE)

i) R5.1 – RCCE system for emergencies

ii) R5.2 – Risk communication

iii) R5.3 – Community engagement

f) Additional capacities related to zoonotic diseases

i) P5.2 – Responding to zoonotic diseases

ii) P5.3 – Sanitary animal production practices

g) Health emergency management [including medical countermeasures]

i) R1.1, R1.2, R1.3, R1.4, R1.5 – Emergency preparedness

ii) R3.3 – Continuity of essential health services (EHS)

iii) PoE 2 – Public health response at PoEs

h) Immunization [including capacity for mass vaccination]

i) P8.1- Vaccine coverage (measles) as part of national programme

ii) P8.2 - National vaccine access and delivery

iii) P8.3 - Mass vaccination for epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs)

i) Other

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ANNEX 3: SUBMISSION PROCESS

1. Proposals will need to be submitted on the Pandemic Fund’s online application

portal, which will open in February 2024. Applicants must complete all sections of the

Pandemic Fund’s online application portal, once released. The link to the application

portal will be made available on the Pandemic Fund’s website in late February 2024.

Applicants should note that there will be word count limits for each of the application

sections, which will be stipulated in the application portal.

2. Proposals, including all accompanying documentation, will need to be submitted

in the application portal in English. However, the Pandemic Fund will release this

Guidance Note in French and Spanish. The Pandemic Fund encourages countries

to seek assistance from the IE with whom they are working to secure translation of

proposals into English, as required.

3. Funding requests, budgets and disbursement schedules will need to be quoted in US

dollars.

4. The Funding Proposal Template will need to be completed on the Pandemic Fund’s

application portal; the link to the portal will be made available on the Pandemic

Fund’s website in late February 2024. All proposals will need to be submitted by

May 17, 2024 at 23:59 ET.

5. The Pandemic Fund will organize information sessions on the requirements

detailed in this announcement following the release of the application portal and

template and updated technical evaluation criteria and scoring methodology in late

February 2024. Sign-up information will be posted on the Pandemic Fund website.

Additional information sessions on how to access the application portal will also be

scheduled closer to the submission deadline.

6. Applicants from countries, Regional Entities and IEs will be required to obtain the

necessary internal management clearances for the proposal prior to its submission

to the Pandemic Fund, where possible. Final approval of the project by the relevant

authority of the concerned IE(s) will need to occur no later than the end of the rst

quarter of Calendar Year (CY) 2025.

7. Furthermore, the following guidance for the submission of proposals to the Pandemic

Fund should be noted:

 Single-country proposals must be submitted by the potential applicant country with

the IE(s) clearly identied. Such proposals must be accompanied by a cover letter

signed by (a) a representative of the Ministry of Finance, a representative

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of the Ministry of Health, and other relevant Ministry/Department/entity from the

applicant(s) and (b) representatives of the identied IEs, and where possible, other

delivery partners, acknowledging co-ownership, co-creation, and commitment.

 Multi-country proposals may be submitted by one of the potential applicant

countries or an IE, as long as the proposal demonstrates that it has been co-

created and that there is co-ownership amongst all parties. Such proposals must

be accompanied by a cover letter signed by (a) a representative from each

country’s Ministry of Finance, a representative from each country’s Ministry of

Health, and other relevant Ministry/Department/entity from the applicants and (b)

representatives of the identied IEs, and where possible, other delivery partners,

acknowledging co-ownership, co-creation, and commitment.

 Regional Entity proposals may be submitted by either a Regional Entity applicant

or an IE as long as the proposal demonstrates that it has been co-created and that

there is co-ownership amongst all parties. The proposal must be accompanied

by a cover letter signed by the representative(s) of the applicant Regional Entity

(-ies) and representatives of the identied IEs, and where possible, other delivery

partners, acknowledging co-ownership, co-creation, and commitment.

8. The Pandemic Fund Secretariat acknowledges that there are some cases in which it

may be challenging to obtain cover letters in time. If this is the case, the Secretariat

encourages applicants to write to the Secretariat at pandemicfundcfp@worldbank.

org to inform if there will be delays in attaching these letters following the closing of

the application portal on May 17, 2024.

9. Applicants will also be required to submit copies of their most recent JEE, PVS,

SPAR scores along with any NAPHS, One Health and other related national and

regional health and community systems strengthening plans, or other national

and/or regional plans and beyond to facilitate review by the Technical Advisory

Panel (TAP). Applicants are also welcome to submit additional information to

substantiate their proposals.

10. All proposals must assign an individual project leader representing the participating

applicants to liaise with the Secretariat on the proposal, provide clarications,

missing information, and receive feedback on the status of the proposal submission.

The project leader – if different from the person submitting the application - must

be copied on the proposal submission. Project leaders, in most cases, would be a

government ofcial dedicated to the project submitted or, in exceptional cases

(e.g., impossibility for a country to indicate someone due to change of governments

or strong instability), a representative of an IE.

39 Where Pandemic Fund resources are being sought for a project involving the private sector, the submission should include

appropriate IEs that are able to channel funding to such private sector entity, and with sign-off/endorsement from the relevant

government ministries, departments and other public sector entity as outlined here.