"The need is urgent. We cannot afford to wait. Together, we can and must deliver on the promise of better health and nutrition for all women, children, and adolescents, everywhere" - Austin Demby Chair, Minister of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
A year ago, in a health centre in Kigoma, north-east Tanzania, doctors saved Dorcas’ baby, who was born underweight and faced life-threatening complications. She had planned to deliver at home, but trained health workers in her community recognized the danger, referred her in time, and ensured she reached the facility by ambulance. Without that chain of care, her child would likely have died.
Stories like Dorcas’ illustrate a larger truth: for decades, the world made steady progress in reducing child deaths, and since 2000, under-five mortality has fallen by more than half. The evidence is clear: access to essential health and nutrition services saves lives. And what has made that access possible and sustainable are government investments and health system reforms.
But this progress remains fragile.
As official development assistance declines, health facilities are closing, health workers are losing their jobs, and medical supply chains are being disrupted. Projections suggest that 2025 may be the first year this century in which child deaths increased, with 200,000 additional young lives lost compared to 2024, a sobering reminder of how quickly gains can be reversed.
The ask: As progress on women’s and children’s survival comes under increasing pressure and inequalities widen, we urge Canada to continue its longstanding support for the Global Financing Facility with an increased pledge for 2026-2030 (exact figure forthcoming).
With international assistance declining, many governments face limited fiscal space and rising debt burdens. Families are often forced to pay out-of-pocket for essential care, putting lifesaving services out of reach for the most marginalized children. This is why new approaches to financing child survival matter now more than ever.
With leadership from Canada in support of the G8 Muskoka Initiative, the Global Financing Facility (GFF) was launched in 2015 to accelerate efforts to end preventable maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent deaths by 2030. The GFF helps countries finance their own health priorities, particularly around child and maternal survival, by combining domestic resources with investments from other countries, the World Bank, and the private sector.
And it’s working.
All 36 GFF partner countries have reduced their levels of maternal and child mortality and adolescent births, expanded access to modern family planning, and three-quarters have reduced their rates of childhood stunting (low height-for-age caused by malnutrition).
The GFF doesn’t replace international assistance – it multiplies it, helping countries build the health systems children need to survive and thrive. In Tanzania, support from the GFF and other partners has helped translate national plans into real services on the ground, ensuring that mothers like Dorcas and their children can access quality primary health care, even in the most remote communities.
Today, as global aid budgets are slashed and child survival gains are at risk of reversal, Canada has a critical opportunity to lead. Canada has a proud history of championing child survival worldwide. A renewed pledge to the Global Financing Facility would help partner countries provide:
Now is Canada’s moment to act. By renewing its support for the GFF, we can safeguard progress and give every child the chance to survive and to thrive.
The ask: As progress on women’s and children’s survival comes under increasing pressure and inequalities widen, we urge Canada to continue its longstanding support for the Global Financing Facility with an increased pledge for 2026-2030 (exact figure forthcoming).
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One of the most successful initiatives in Tanzania is the Safer Births Bundle of Care. This program, led by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the GFF, ensures health workers have the skills and tools to manage common complications that can lead to maternal or neonatal deaths.
By unlocking World Bank funding to scale up this project, the GFF supported the Tanzanian Ministry of Health in its expansion of this project to over 150 facilities and enabled more than 4,000 health workers to receive training. Now, the plan is to reach all regions.
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Despite global challenges—from climate change to conflicts and debt—GFF partner countries are showing that progress is still possible.
February - Black History Month
February 1-7 - International Development Week
February 5 - Results Canada Action Kick-Off
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Reach out to your Member of Parliament by e-mail to introduce the Global Financing Facility and explain why it is a smart investment for Canada, especially at a time when resources are limited and global needs are growing.
Highlight how the GFF helps countries lead their own health priorities while making better use of every dollar invested. Be sure to emphasize the human impact of this approach, including how strengthening primary health care brings essential services closer to communities and helps save the lives of mothers and children.
Let your MP know that February 1st – 7th marks another International Development Week. This is a time for all advocates to come together and highlight the global efforts taking place to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development around the world.
Expert tip: Use the EPIC model of effective communication to get your message across clearly.
Use International Development Week (IDW) as a timely hook to write a letter to the editor (LTE) highlighting Canada’s leadership on child and maternal survival, including through the Global Financing Facility, which Canada helped launch in 2015. All the information is available in our call to action.
IDW offers a natural moment to remind decision-makers and the public that the GFF is an innovative model that maximizes the impact of every dollar Canada invests in international development by mobilizing domestic resources, donor funding, and World Bank financing. More importantly, it supports sustainable, country-owned health systems that ensure mothers survive childbirth and children grow up healthy.
Be sure to send your LTE to your local community papers for the best chance of being published! Refer to past volunteer LTEs but don’t fall into the trap of copying other people’s styles. Don’t forget to let us know you took action!
Volunteers on average spend 1-2 hours researching and planning, 30 minutes writing their draft, and 15 minutes submitting it to newspapers.
In a time of growing global health challenges, raising awareness about critical health issues is key to building healthier, more resilient communities, and reducing extreme poverty. Raising awareness about tuberculosis (TB) is a powerful way to highlight the urgent need for strong health systems that protect the most vulnerable. TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and shining a light on it shows how investing in health priorities saves lives, strengthens communities and helps break the cycle of extreme poverty.
World Tuberculosis Day takes place on March 24, but preparations begin well in advance! One of the key activities is to illuminate buildings and monuments in red to draw attention to TB. This annual initiative has a tangible impact – last year, a record of 56 landmarks across Canada were lit up, demonstrating the power of collective action. Because approvals from the monuments and landmarks can take several weeks, and sometimes months, early action is essential.
You can help make tuberculosis impossible to ignore. Submit a request to have a monument in your city, or another Canadian city, lit up in red on March 24 and help shine a spotlight on the fight against TB.
Start by selecting a Canadian landmark that accepts requests for commemorative lighting by checking their website and consulting last year’s list for inspiration. Confirm that you are the sole person submitting the request for that site. Then, look into the approval process for your municipality or monument and formally request red lighting in recognition of World TB Day. Then repeat the process with more landmarks!
For step-by-step guidance and tips on identifying a landmark and on preparing your request, consult our guide.
Don’t forget to let us know you took action!
