WHO welcomes the approval by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the first ever Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) agreement focused on Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
On 25 June 2025, the Executive Board approved a new 30-month RSF arrangement to support Jordan’s efforts to address long-term vulnerabilities including strengthening capacity to respond to health emergencies and future pandemics. This support—amounting to up to US$ 700 million—will help enhance financial and policy capacity to mitigate those risks. In the context of declining external aid and a worldwide health financing crisis, this support represents a significant opportunity to boost domestic funding and invest in building resilient, sustainable health systems.
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“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for new sources of financing to bolster health systems to make them more able to prevent and detect epidemics and pandemics, and to respond and withstand them when they strike,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO is proud to be working with the IMF and the World Bank to unlock financing from the Resilience and Sustainability Trust, and support countries to put it to work for a safer world.”
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) was established by the IMF in 2022 as a new loan-based funding mechanism. It aims to provide affordable, long-term financing to low- and lower-middle-income countries to address climate change and challenges preparing and responding to pandemics. The RST leverages Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) contributed by higher-income countries and offers financing with a 20-year maturity and a 10½-year grace period. While several RSF agreements have already been approved for climate-related purposes, this marks the first RSF arrangement approved by the IMF Executive Board specifically for pandemic preparedness and response and health-related objectives.
In 2024 WHO signed an agreement with the IMF and the World Bank Group to provide technical support for the definition and implementation of country-level RSF arrangements. In Jordan, WHO collaborated closely with the Ministry of Health to identify relevant policy measures aimed at strengthening the financing and operational preparedness system. This includes efforts to consolidate the budgetary and overall governance framework that will serve as the foundation for future health emergency response. Moving forward, WHO teams across the Organization are committed to supporting the implementation of these reform measures in collaboration with the IMF, national authorities, and local partners as part of the RSF arrangement.
