The global pledging event, ‘Investing in Humanity: Uniting to End Polio’, was hosted by the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity in partnership with GPEI, and took place at Abu Dhabi Finance Week.
The event was attended by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity; Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Minister for Planning and Development, Pakistan; Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation; and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; alongside leaders from governments, multilateral institutions, and the private sector.
Pledges were made from 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; $100 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies; $154 million from Pakistan and $62 million from Germany; $46 million from the United States of America; $6 million from Japan; $4 million from the Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA); and $3 million from Luxembourg.
“We are on the cusp of eradicating polio and securing a historic win for humanity. But we need all countries, partners and donors to step up now to get the job done,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “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 around the world.”