Grants and Contributions

Canada's assessed contribution to WHO - World Health Organization

P015734001: March 2025 - The humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza remains dire, with the UN estimating that 3.3 million people (1 million children), require life-saving assistance in 2025. The health system in the Gaza Strip continues to be dismantled and devastated by attacks, with70% of hospitals non-functional due to fuel shortages and damage. Overcrowded living conditions and poor sanitation have caused a rise in communicable diseases, while severe restrictions delay and disrupt humanitarian efforts to provide essential health care and services.

With GAC’s support, the World Health Organization (WHO) responds to immediate health needs in Gaza and the West Bank, with the aim to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity. Project activities include: (1) increasing access to essential health services, (2) enhancing disease surveillance and diagnostic systems to improve early detection and response to outbreaks, and (3) supporting the coordinated delivery of health services with UN agencies, international and national partners, and donors. | P015734003: February 2026 - The humanitarian crisis in Palestine remains dire, with the UN estimating that 3.62 million people, require life-saving assistance in 2026. The health system in the Gaza Strip has collapsed, with over 62 per cent of health facilities non-functional. Remaining facilities are overwhelmed or operating without adequate staff, fuel, or medical supplies. Overcrowded living conditions, poor sanitation and malnutrition have caused a rise in communicable diseases, posing an increased risk to women, children, older persons and immuno-deficient individuals. Severe restrictions on humanitarian access delay and disrupt efforts to provide essential health care and services.

With GAC’s support, the World Health Organization (WHO) responds to immediate health needs in Palestine, with the aim to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity. Project activities include: (1) increasing access to essential health services, (2) enhancing disease surveillance and diagnostic systems to improve early detection and response to outbreaks, and (3) supporting the coordinated delivery of health services with UN agencies, international and national partners, and donors.

February 2025 - The World Health Organization (WHO) works with countries and partners to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from hazards that create health emergencies, including disasters, disease outbreaks and conflicts. The WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) is a replenishable multi-donor fund that provides resources necessary to rapidly scale up WHO’s initial response to health-related outbreaks and emergencies.

With GAC’s support, the CFE helps the WHO react early to prevent health emergencies from escalating. Project activities include: (1) deploying experts to assess outbreak threat; (2) delivering essential medicines, supplies and equipment; (3) training health personnel; and (4) strengthening health sector coordination and health information systems.

This project aims to support the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in their final push to eradicate the wild poliovirus (WPV) in Afghanistan, one of only 2 remaining polio endemic countries (the other being Pakistan) by 2027. A significant number of Afghan children remain unvaccinated, and this project aims to increase polio vaccine campaign activities for Afghan children under the age of 5. Project (WHO) activities include: (1) coordinating operations and conducting research, analysis, monitoring and evaluation; (2) providing technical and operational support for campaign administrators; (3) coordinating the training and deployment of human resources for supplementary technical assistance; and (4) securing logistics to access hard-to-reach areas. Project (UNICEF) activities include: (1) procuring the vaccines and cold chain equipment; (2) providing technical assistance for administrators responsible for the advocacy, communication, and social mobilization of the

This project aims to contribute to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s global mpox response to stop and contain the current oubreak of mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), through coordinated global, regional and national efforts. With a targeted focus on priority groups and populations in situations of vulnerability, the project seeks to rapidly detect and control outbreaks, advance research and ensure equitable access to medical countermeasures, as well as minimize zoonotic transmission. Project activities include: (1) strengthening surveillance and detection through enhanced capacity reinforcement; (2) enhancing community protection, with a focus on addressing stigma and discrimination associated with mpox, particularly related to sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV status; and (3) providing safe and scalable care, including the protection of healthcare workers and patients.

Canada’s assessed contribution to the World Health Organization (WHO)

April 2024 – The World Health Organization (WHO) works with countries and partners to prepare, prevent, respond, and recover from hazards that create health emergencies. This includes disasters, disease outbreaks and conflicts. The WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) is a replenishable fund established to provide the resources necessary to rapidly scale up WHO’s initial acute response to outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences. The Fund seeks to fill critical funding gaps from the beginning of an emergency until the organization can access additional sources of funds.

With GAC’s support, the CFE helps the WHO to react early to prevent health emergencies from escalating. Project activities include: (1) deploying experts to assess outbreak threat; (2) delivering essential medicines, supplies, and equipment; (3) training health personnel; and (4) strengthening health sector coordination and health information systems.

This project aims to improve access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) among women and girls in the targeted countries. It focuses on safe abortion, family planning, and comprehensive sexuality education. Project activities include: (1) providing tools and technical assistance to national health ministries, civil society organizations, and professional associations. It seeks to help scale up access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services; (2) conducting and publishing research papers on a comprehensive SRHR; and (3) undertaking consultations, country-level dialogue, and coordination to help countries use evidence-based research to shape gender-responsive policies that better support women and girls’ access to SRHR.

This project aims to reduce suffering and improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of
conflict-affected Ukrainians, and strengthen the systems and delivery of mental health and psychosocial support in Ukraine. Canada will contribute to three strategic priorities of the World Health Organization's overall Mental Health Program for Ukraine (2023-2028). Project activities include: (1) supporting capacity-building of technical coordination groups through the Ukraine National Mental Health Center, and the national and sub-national working groups, including for humanitarian response; (2) working with local health service providers to support direct service provision through Primary Health Centers (PHC) professionals and community stakeholders; (3) supporting social cohesion programming, and promoting health rights programming with civil society organizations.

This initiative will build from GAC-funded "BASE-Building a Baseline for SRHR Data in Mozambique" also known as "SARA" and will focus on improving the quality of evidence-based and routine data to contribute and facilitate decision-making focusing on sexual reproductive maternal, neonatal, and child health (SRMNCH). The proposed initiative aims to update two surveys, the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) and the Service Assessment and the STEPwise Approach to NCD Risk Factor Surveillance (STEPs). WHO methodology will be used in both. It will also conduct an assessment report on the barriers afftecting demand for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services in Mozambique.

Most of the project’s activities will be related to data collection and processing. However, since some activities under the STEPs survey will generate medical waste in the form of syringes and other medical material to collect blood samples for screening for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, the project falls under Category B of the EIP Screening Tool.