Policy Updates

On October 12, 2026, Germany pledged EUR10 million (US$11 million) during the World Health Summit in Berlin to improve access to family planning and maternal, newborn, and child health products through the GFF's Sustainable Commodities Access Program.

On October 12, 2026, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap announced a US$100 million joint investment to launch Uzima: A Stillbirth Prevention Program, which set a goal of halving stillbirth rates in select countries over the next decade.

The program planned to identify, validate, and scale innovations that could help families and health workers recognize risks earlier and respond to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. The commitment planned to begin with partners in sub-Saharan Africa, which would advance promising new tools and create a blueprint for reducing stillbirths globally.

The program is set to explore five categories of innovation:

• diagnostic tools, such as biomarker-based and imaging-based tests, for earlier detection of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes;
• AI-enabled ultrasound and other screening tools for settings with limited resources;
• labor sensors that help health workers detect complications sooner;
• AI-enabled decision-support tools; and
• integrated patient navigation systems for mothers, families, and community health workers.

On October 10, 2026, the government of Bangladesh and the EIB set out plans for a EUR250 million (US$286 million) program to improve women's health and strengthen district hospitals for approximately 47 million women and girls.

The program, known as the Women's Health Initiative, proposed using funds approved in 2021 to support Bangladesh's COVID-19 immunization program, mid-term pandemic preparedness, and general health system resilience. This new program aims to expand access to essential health services during 2027-2031.

The initiative proposed expanding maternal and newborn care, cervical and breast cancer services, and access to emergency obstetric and newborn care. It also planned to strengthen primary healthcare, referral services, district hospitals, and critical care to deliver reliable, high-quality care and respond more effectively to future emergencies.

The UNFPA supported the government of Bangladesh in developing the program and is expected to provide technical expertise during implementation.

On October 8, 2026, the USDA signed agreements in principle to deliver US$357 million across eight Food for Peace projects, which will purchase approximately 129,000 metric tons of US-grown commodities for emergency food assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti, with Action Against Hunger, CRS, UNICEF, and the WFP slated to receive the funding.

This funding is in addition to US$687 million announced earlier in the year in emergency funding, including US$452 million for the WFP on February, and an agreement in principle worth US$235 million with CRS on July.

On October 7, 2026, the Norwegian government proposed a NOK2.4-billion (US$254 million) increase in 2027, a 75% rise that brings Norfund's funding to NOK5.6 billion (US$592 million) for investments in companies that create jobs in developing countries, according to Minister for Development Cooperation, Åsmund Aukrust.

Aukrust said employment is the first priority of the Labour Party government in development policy. The proposal focuses on strengthening Norfund's development mandate in the 2027 state budget, with the goal of creating more jobs while generating more long-term development from public funds.

The government also proposed a NOK30 million (US$3 million) increase to support business development and job creation in developing countries. Aukrust argued that work is the most reliable route out of poverty for individuals, creates value in local communities, and enables countries to finance their own development.

On October 5, 2026, Ambroise Fayolle, vice president of the EIB, announced that the EIB planned to double its climate adaptation finance to EUR30 billion (US$34.3 billion) through 2030.

The EIB will face a complex year ahead, however. Discussions remain heated around the size of the next MFF, while seven EIB shareholder countries, including France, Spain, Poland, Italy, Finland, Estonia, and Greece, prepare to hold national elections amid rising support for far-right parties. Though these elections have the potential to shape the direction of the EIB board, Fayolle said he was not overly concerned about them and preferred to wait until they occurred before assessing their impact.

On October 1, 2026, The US Department of State intends to launch new implementation plans that would overhaul global health assistance for 35 partner countries, shifting toward increased G2G health financing, without having shared the plans with the US Congress, according to a congressional source.

The State Department had already notified Congress of its intention to establish G2G financing arrangements for Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda, offering an early indication of how the new funding model would operate. As of the October 1, 2026 launch, the implementation plans had not been publicly released or provided to Congress.

The plans were drafted in cooperation with partner governments and expanded on memoranda of understanding that US officials began establishing with countries in December 2025. They would determine how billions of US dollars in health financing were spent. The implementation plans had originally been scheduled to take effect in April 2026, but were delayed without explanation. In the interim, the State Department maintained existing global health programs through three- or six-month grants.

On October 1, 2026, the French government proposed an 11% cut to core development disbursements for 2027, reducing the ODA Mission budget to EUR3.17 billion (US$3.6 billion) from EUR3.569 billion (US$4.1 billion) in 2026, and cut future commitment authorizations by 43%, or EUR1.9 billion (US$2.2 billion).

The ODA Mission funds the AFD, French NGOs, and contributions to multilateral institutions and global funds, including the World Bank. The cut amounted to EUR399 million (US$456 million) from the mission's 2026 budget. The mission formed only part of France's total ODA, which also included in-country refugee costs and EU contributions and was expected to reach approximately EUR12 billion (US$13.7 billion) in 2026; the 2027 total remained unclear.

Fabrice Ferrier, director of Focus 2030, told Devex that the cut to commitment appropriations was not binding, since the incoming government, to be elected in May 2027, could increase the amount, though he added that the cuts sent a discouraging signal at a difficult time. Experts anticipated the cuts would hit the AFD hard and could close health centers, schools, water programs, food aid projects, emergency initiatives, gender-based violence prevention programs, climate adaptation initiatives, and job creation support in recipient countries.

On September 30, 2026, the GAO published a report after looking into the dismantling of USAID by the Trump administration. Its main finidng was that the US Department of State could not provide evidence of staff guidance or standards for modifying foreign assistance programs following its absorption of USAID's remaining programs.

Without documented guidance, GAO reported, officials responsible for foreign assistance programming risked making inconsistent, ad hoc, or inefficient decisions that could waste taxpayer funds. For example, officials could make incorrect assumptions about desired program changes, which could lead to legal disputes or the retraction of terminated awards.

On September 30, 2026, on the eve of the U.S. State Department launching its new implementation plan for bilateral healh agreements, it was announced that the Trump administration terminated US global health funding to Zimbabwe, including support for HIV and other infectious disease programs, after Zimbabwe's government rejected an "America First" foreign assistance agreement with Washington.

The US Department of State confirmed the decision in a statement, noting that implementing partners in Zimbabwe would receive a short window to responsibly close out all US government-funded programs. The department said it remained committed to an orderly handover of operations.

The termination followed months of negotiations in which the Trump administration sought new terms from recipient countries in exchange for continued US development assistance. Zimbabwe declined to sign such an agreement. Health advocates and officials from other recipient countries criticized the negotiation process, arguing that the administration pressured governments into accepting unfavorable terms. Limited analysis of the agreements indicated that they reduced tens of billions of US dollars in global health funding worldwide, even as the US Congress continued to appropriate funding for these programs.