IFFIm, the International Finance Facility for Immunisation, was founded in 2006 on the idea that private investors and government donors can work together to have a greater, more immediate impact on global health.

An award-winning socially responsible investment

IFFIm is a role model for socially responsible investing in global development, which faces constant funding challenges and unpredictability. Vaccine Bonds provide investors with a unique opportunity to realise an attractive and secure rate of return and diversify their portfolios while helping save young lives. It’s not a donation, it’s an investment. IFFIm has been so successful, it has changed the face of global development funding.

A partnership that puts children first

IFFIm’s unique financing model for global health is built upon partnerships. IFFIm receives long term, legally binding pledges from donor countries and, with the World Bank acting as Treasury Manager, turns these pledges into bonds. The money raised via Vaccine Bonds provides immediate funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Since, 2000 Gavi has dramatically improved access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.

Accelerating funding for life-saving vaccines

IFFIm accelerates the delivery of vaccines by making the money from long term government donor pledges available immediately. Through this funding mechanism, known as “frontloading,” IFFIm has helped Gavi to immunise more children sooner and has made vaccines more widely available.

By creating a larger market and by stimulating greater competition from manufacturers, Gavi has played a major role in driving down the cost of vaccines for low-income countries since 2000.

Vaccine Bonds supporting Gavi

Vaccine Bonds speed the availability of flexible funds for Gavi’s immunisation programmes and other initiatives on the ground, including unexpected emergencies. This saves more lives faster. Vaccine Bonds also lead to funding that is more predictable, enabling public health officials to plan vaccination campaigns well in advance. Forward planning strengthens local health systems and translates into healthier populations overall, a crucial building block for a successful economy.

IFFIm’s financing model puts donor pledges to work faster

IFFIm's financing model puts donor pledges to work faster. For example: a sovereign donor pledges US$ 200 million paid in US$10 million tranches annually over 20 years. Without IFFIm, Gavi would be limited to spending only this US$10 million each year and would have to wait 20 years before seeing its full impact.

But backed by these pledges, IFFIm issues its Vaccine Bonds on the international capital markets. Capital market investors buy these bonds for an attractive rate of return, which makes funds immediately available to IFFIm

Gavi uses the proceeds of these bond issuances to purchase more vaccines to immunise more children in the world’s poorest countries.

In order to ensure investors of its ability to pay back interest and principal, IFFIm only raises bonds against a percentage of their overall pledge. IFFIm uses the remainder as a reserve to make sure that there will always be more than sufficient funds to pay bondholders when the bonds mature.

Donors’ annual payments to IFFIm—or proceeds from new bond issues—go toward repayment to bondholders. For example, with a 5-year bond, at the end of 5 years, IFFIm would have paid interest, and will return full principal to the investors.

At the end of the donor payment period and after all bonds are redeemed, IFFIm can transfer to Gavi any outstanding reserve—that was earlier set aside-to purchase more vaccines.