FundsGlobal Health and Development Fund
Global Health and Development Fund
Aims to improve the health or economic empowerment of people around the world as effectively as possible.
About the fund
The Fund is currently managed by GiveWell co-founder Elie Hassenfeld. Elie and GiveWell staff have extensive experience analyzing unusually promising opportunities in the global health and development space; GiveWell recommends charities that are evidence-backed, thoroughly vetted, and underfunded.
Focus areas
The Global Health and Development Fund recommends grants with the aim of improving people's lives, typically in the poorest regions of the world where the need for healthcare and economic empowerment is greatest. This will be achieved primarily by supporting projects that:
- Directly provide healthcare, or preventive measures that will improve health, well-being, or life expectancy
- Directly provide services that raise incomes or otherwise improve economic conditions
- Provide assistance to governments in the design and implementation of effective policies
In addition, the Global Health and Development Fund has a broad remit, and may fund other activities whose ultimate purpose is to serve people living in the poorest regions of the world, for example by raising additional funds (e.g. One for the World) or by exploring novel financing arrangements (e.g. Instiglio).
The Fund manager recommends grants to GiveWell top charities as a baseline, but will recommend higher-risk grants they believe to be more effective (in expectation) than GiveWell top charities. As such, the fund makes grants with a variety of different risk profiles.
Featured grants with outstanding outcomes
Malaria Consortium
$1,690,095.48
2022 Q4
Support of seasonal malaria chemoprevention program
$1,690,095.48
2022 Q4
Johns Hopkins University
$102,732
2022 Q4
Support for the planning of an RCT of IRD Global's Zero TB program in Pakistan
$102,732
2022 Q4
Center for Global Development
$1,200,000
2021 Q4
Support for research and advocacy to reduce lead exposure
$1,200,000
2021 Q4
One Acre Fund
$77,523
2022 Q4
Support the planning of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and other data gathering activities for a tree seedlings program
$77,523
2022 Q4
Payout reports
Payout date
Total grants
No. of grantees
Payout report
2022 Q3
$5,140,000
1
2022 Q2
$300,000
1
2022 Q1
$4,767,923
2021 Q4
$1,200,000
2021 Q4
$262,000
1
Payouts over time
Why donate to this fund?
Global health and development is a highly tractable area: even small donations can have a huge impact on improving people’s lives and preventing premature deaths.
The problem is also very large in scale. As of 2015, over 700 million people were living under the international poverty line of $1.90/day. The UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation estimates that nearly 15,000 children under the age of 5 die each day from preventable causes associated with extreme poverty.
While many organizations work on helping those in extreme poverty, the scale of the problem means there are still many outstanding giving opportunities with room for more funding.
The Fund makes grants to organizations directly serving people in low- and middle-income countries, as well as promising but higher-risk opportunities to help the global poor. As such, it is suitable for donors who want to take calculated risks, but who support more straightforward giving when the fund manager is unable to identify riskier opportunities they believe to be more effective (in expectation).
Why you might choose not to donate to this fund
01You prefer particular types of giving opportunities within global health & development02You want to focus on causes outside global health and development03You don’t know much about GiveWell, or trust its research
The Fund has a broad remit, making grants to support both straightforward and higher-risk giving opportunities. It also makes grants to improve people's lives in multiple ways, including preventing early deaths, improving health, and increasing economic empowerment.
Donors who have a strong preference for a particular risk profile or type of benefit may want to focus their giving more narrowly. Donors who prefer their giving to focus on more straightforward opportunities should consider supporting GiveWell, which can reallocate their donation to its top charities based on their funding needs.
