Standing strong for children's health
It was a rollercoaster. 2025 was one of the most challenging years for international development funding in recent memory. But against the odds, Save the Children, with our partners, achieved remarkable victories for children’s health and survival.
From securing crucial immunisation funding to making history at the World Health Assembly – where we hosted the World Health Organisation’s first-ever investment pledging event – our global efforts demonstrate that strategic advocacy can deliver results even in the toughest political environments.
Defending development aid
As governments worldwide face pressure to cut overseas aid, our teams have worked tirelessly to protect development budgets. The results speak for themselves:
Australia committed over AUD$650 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, (including $300 million in new money) and the Global Fund, maintaining its commitment to global health. These announcements were made by International Development Minister Dr Anne Aly. It’s worth noting that five years earlier Aly had joined an Australian Regional Leadership Initiative (ARLI) visit to Bangladesh to see firsthand the critical importance of global health initiatives in children’s lives. With a large number of ARLI alumni now holding positions in both the ministry and shadow ministry, and almost 25% of Parliament having participated in the programme, we’ve created a powerful network of parliamentarians who have a deeper understanding of the importance of international aid and development and a greater capacity to champion it.
In Norway, we launched an innovative advocacy campaign around our book "Hva gjør vi nå?" ("What do we do now?"), which proposed using Norway's Oil Fund for climate finance, creating more room in the aid budget for development. The high-profile launch event attracted 250 youth activists and politicians, with the book subsequently distributed to over 300 organisations, politicians and influencers, successfully bringing international aid into pre-election discourse. Norway maintained its foreign aid budget above 1% of gross national income, with the Labour Party publicly committing to maintain this level despite opposition pressure.
In Germany, where early elections took place amid a tumultuous political landscape, our advocacy and media strategy proved effective. By strategically highlighting humanitarian crises in Gaza, Afghanistan and Sudan, we kept aid cuts in the public eye. Our joint study with think tank Pollytix informed the development ministry’s strategy on aid, with children a confirmed priority for its new minister. Germany is now the world’s largest bilateral donor.
Impact at the World Health Assembly
Perhaps our most significant breakthrough came at WHA78, where we were the only civil society organisation invited to host the WHO’s first-ever investment round pledging event at the WHA. Our UK CEO Moazzam Malik co-chaired the event alongside Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (shown in image above). This wasn’t just symbolic – it cemented our position as a leading voice on global health on behalf of the communities we serve.
Our influence and engagement with numerous partners continued throughout the Assembly. The Strengthening Health Financing Globally resolution passed, incorporating our proposed language – the first substantive intergovernmental initiative on health financing in over a decade. The Pandemic Agreement was adopted, including our messaging on universal health coverage, primary health care, and civil society engagement. In fact, all resolutions promoted by Save the Children and our partners were adopted. Particularly significant was the resolution on Digital Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes and the extension of Global Nutrition Targets. In the Geneva Health Files, Save the Children was subsequently mapped as the most influential NGO at the 2025 World Health Assembly.
With official WHA side events reinstated in the Palais des Nations in 2025 for the first time since the pandemic, we were successful in securing a session on the future of health financing, chaired by Moazzam Malik and featuring experts from WHO, civil society and the governments of Australia, Chile, Germany, Guinea Bissau, Japan and Nigeria.
Building on this success, the WHO Civil Society Commission invited Save the Children to organise the Director-General Dialogues on the Future of Global Health – an important opportunity to influence WHO Member States toward a new health financing narrative. This series of events will continue this year in the lead up to WHA79.
Mobilising support for immunisation
The Gavi replenishment campaign showcased the power of coordinated advocacy. Our "Time to Step Up for Immunisation" campaign mobilised over 200 civil society organisations and produced joint policy papers with UNICEF and articles for mainstream news outlets. Our communications strategy resonated across platforms, amplified by partners including Gavi itself.
In addition to the gains already mentioned in Australia, our targeted engagement in Brussels secured an additional €360 million top-up from the European Commission. Germany’s €600 million pledge reflected our sustained advocacy through the VENRO (a federal umbrella association for development policy and humanitarian aid) Global Health Working Group and our Europe-wide strategic social media campaign, designed and coordinated by Save the Children Europe. The British and Norwegian governments also committed to continued support for Gavi. All in all, we saw Gavi replenished at over US$9 billion, a successful culmination of a year-long effort in difficult times.
Protecting maternal and child health
In the United States, our team helped to secure crucial protections for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) funding, which remained unchanged even as overall foreign assistance faced a 22% cut.
Beyond funding, an August recess MNCH education push with House and Senate offices deepened both our engagement with Republican and Democratic champions and their understanding of the challenges facing mothers and kids around the world – and ways to overcome them. Legislation to ensure adequate prenatal maternal nutrition and in support of Gavi’s lifesaving impact on children was introduced in the fall – a strong indicator of Congress’s continued support for healthy mothers and babies.
Through our UK office, we expanded our Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) engagement to the International Conference on Family Planning in Bogotá, where we hosted an official side event exploring financing for RMNCAH and maintained an exhibition booth throughout the conference. This first-time engagement opened new doors for connecting with diverse stakeholders working on reproductive, maternal and child health globally.
Building for the future
These victories didn’t happen by accident. They resulted from years of relationship building, evidence-based advocacy, strategic coalition building, and persistent engagement – even when the outlook seemed bleak. From hosting a World Health Summit side event on public-private partnerships for universal health coverage, to producing visual stories for the World Bank on World Children’s Day, to leading civil society statements at WHO negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement’s PABS annex, we’ve maintained momentum across multiple fronts.
As we look ahead, we’re strengthening our position through continued engagement with the World Bank, planning WHO Director-General Dialogues on Health Financing, and preparing for critical budget cycles across donor countries. While we cannot be complacent about the current political and fiscal challenges, the past year has shown that strategic, evidence-based advocacy, coupled with persistence and agility, can protect the invaluable resources needed to advance the health of the world's most vulnerable children.
