Ministers from the Global Leaders Network for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health (GLN), alongside Indonesia’s Finance Minister, have called for urgent action to secure sustainable financing for health systems in the face of declining global aid and rising fiscal pressures. Meeting on the sidelines of the World Bank–IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., the ministers emphasized the need to translate political commitments into concrete financing solutions that protect the health of women, children, and adolescents.
The gathering highlighted growing concerns over the erosion of official development assistance, which threatens to reverse decades of progress in global health. Ministers noted that rising debt burdens, demographic shifts, and competing national priorities are squeezing fiscal space in many countries, even as health needs continue to escalate. Maternal and newborn mortality, adolescent health outcomes, access to sexual and reproductive health services, surgery, and women’s cancer care remain urgent priorities, all highly sensitive to changes in both domestic and external funding.
To address these challenges, the ministers stressed the importance of aligning and structuring concessional, public, and private capital to mobilize and scale health sector investments. Through the GLN’s Financial Diplomacy Series, they will work with the Women’s Health and Economic Empowerment Network (WHEN), development finance institutions, the private sector, and governments to design blended financing solutions tailored to country-led investment priorities.
Strengthening national health insurance systems and expanding financial protection were also identified as critical steps to reduce out-of-pocket expenditures and prevent catastrophic health spending, which disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including women and adolescents in the informal sector.
The ministers called on development finance institutions, the private sector, and the international community to align behind these priorities and act with the urgency the moment demands. The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of women, children, and adolescents through innovative and sustainable financing strategies.
