16 October 2023 Deliver the Future: Catalyzing opportunities for women, children and adolescents

Check against delivery!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

What does it mean “to deliver the future”?

For 13-year-old Mariama in Senegal, it means that she will be educated about sex and have access to menstrual hygiene products and contraception. If Mariama can avoid an unintended pregnancy, she can finish school and start vocational training. Asked about her experience with the Global Financing Facility (GFF), she said: “I can see now that I have prospects. I want to become someone and help lift my family out of poverty. Only then I will think about marriage. Before the project, marriage would always have come first.” For Mariama, delivering the future means providing her with education.

For Aminata in Côte d’Ivoire, it means that she was taken care of by a midwife while giving birth. And that her children will be vaccinated against measles and yellow fever. This will improve their health and the resilience of the communities they live in. It will also have a positive impact on their education and their prospects later on in life. For Aminata, her family is her future.

These are just a couple of examples of how the GFF is supporting women worldwide in leading healthier lives.

But delivering the future isn't easy. And it certainly does not come for free. In fact, by the end of this year, 800 million US dollars need to be raised for the GFF to provide essential health services to 250 million women, children and youth in the coming years. That is why Germany – together with our partners Côte d’Ivoire, the Netherlands and the World Bank – has started the “Deliver the future” campaign. To make sure that this money is available and that the GFF can continue its work of saving lives. Can continue to care for pregnant women, can support them in delivering their babies, can support them in planning their families and getting their children vaccinated.

And it is no coincidence that the GFF focuses on women and children – because women’s rights are human rights. And because girls and women make up 50 per cent of the world’s population. Only girls who are healthy and able to make decisions about their own bodies can grow up to become educated and self-sufficient women. Women that enjoy the same rights, resources and representation as men.

Delivering the future to women comes at a crucial point in time: the ongoing crises are making it much harder to invest in women’s health, because countries have constrained budgets and competing health priorities. On top of this, the anti-gender movement is growing internationally and trying to restrict the rights of women. This is unacceptable and we will not stand for it.

In order to deliver the future together with the GFF, we need to do three things. Firstly, we need to raise the money required and invest it as efficiently as possible. Secondly, we need to strengthen our partner countries’ efforts to increase healthcare investments and unlock additional funding. Thirdly, we need to work more closely together, especially with civil society and partners at the multilateral level.

Because I like to put my money where my mouth is, I am happy to announce that Germany will be providing the GFF with 25 million euros of support next year. And I will work to continue this support in the future. I hope that together with our partners, we can leverage even more funding for the GFF.

By raising this money, we are getting closer to achieving the health goals of the 2030 Agenda. But what is more, we are helping women to shape their own lives. So that women like Mariama and Aminata can deliver the future to their own children.