International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm)
The IFFIm borrows on capital markets against donor countries' pledges, raising funds through bond issuances. The IFFIm concept aims to provide US$4 billion in disbursements in the 2006-2015 period.
IFFIm aims to double the development aid provided by the Group of Seven (G7) countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States). It is based on 10-20-year legally binding commitments from donors.
 | ”Every bond sold will help save more kids’ lives. For those of us directly involved, this was an incredibly important transaction. For me, it was one I’ll never forget.” Michael Sherwood, co chief of Goldman Sachs International" Read more |
IFFIm has enabled GAVI to attract new funding for immunisation which has led to innovative and targeted immunisation and corresponding results, which would not have been achieved without this kind of funding.
It has also enabled potential donors who are fiscally constrained in the short term to provide immediate development funds through pledges and help guarantee future aid flows.
The World Bank is the Treasury Manager for IFFIm. As IFFIm’s agent, it manages IFFIm’s finances according to prudent policies and standards, including the development of IFFIm’s funding strategy and its implementation in the capital markets, managing rating agency relationships and investor outreach, and hedging transactions and investment management. The World Bank coordinates with IFFIm’s donors and manages their pledges and payments.
The World Bank also administers the GAVI Fund Affiliate Account which receives bond proceeds from IFFIm and makes disbursements for GAVI Alliance programs.
IFFIm benefits
- Enables long-term commitments: IFFIm funds are based on long-term, legally binding commitments. This provides welcome certainty of aid flows – comparable to commitments made by donor countries to the International Development Association of the World Bank.
- Improved planning and budgeting in implementing countries: Predictability enables national governments to take longer-term budget and planning decisions. At present, IFFIm generates funds disbursed through GAVI but the mechanism could be applied to budget support or sector-wide approaches that pool donor funds in a given sector, such as health.
- Increased market leverage: Predictable funding enables bulk ordering of vaccines. This strengthens purchasing power and the ability to negotiate longer-term contracts with suppliers, leading to lower prices and more vaccines for a given amount of funding.
- Frontloading: This is particularly relevant in health where there is potential for economies of scale. The IFFIm concept offers two significant benefits in this respect:
- Impact on disease burden: Frontloading the funding of preventive activities reduces incidence of disease more rapidly, saving lives.
- Economic and fiscal benefits: More rapid reductions in disease burden lower costs and increase the productivity of local health services – both on-going benefits.
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