Abu Dhabi pledges millions to Bill Gates polio fund

Abu Dhabi-based The Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity has committed millions to a $1.9 billion fund backed by billionnaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates that aims to advance polio immunisation and eradication.

The fundraising round included a diverse group of donors and countries, including $1.2 billion from the Gates Foundation, $140 million from the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, $450 million from Rotary International and $100 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Pakistan has pledged $154 million, along with Germany ($62 million), the US ($46 million), Japan ($6 million), the Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America ($4 million) and Luxembourg ($3 million).

The global pledging event, “Investing in Humanity: Uniting to End Polio”, was hosted by the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity in partnership with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

“The new support pledged in Abu Dhabi will be instrumental in helping the GPEI reach all children in the final endemic countries and stop variant polio outbreaks worldwide,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. 

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has personally committed more than $525 million since 2011 to polio eradication, helping to reach more than 400 million children each year with vaccines.

The UAE’s Emirates Polio Campaign has distributed more than 850 million vaccine doses to children across Pakistan since 2014, with a focus on immunising children in remote and hard-to-reach communities.

This was the third major pledging event held in Abu Dhabi, following summits in 2013 and 2019, which collectively raised $6.6 billion for GPEI.