At 2025 Goalkeepers event, Gates lays out roadmap for saving millions more children’s lives by
2045 if governments stretch every dollar and scale a pipeline of affordable, lifesaving
innovations
Announces new pledge to the Global Fund 2026-2028 replenishment to prevent deaths from
AIDS, TB, and malaria
Honors President of the Government of Spain with 2025 Global Goalkeeper Award and 9
champions for their ingenuity and resilience, and for offering hope, solutions in the face of steep
funding cuts
NEW YORK (September 22, 2025) – At its 2025 Goalkeepers event, Gates Foundation Chair Bill
Gates stood before an audience of more than 1,000 global government, community,
philanthropy, and private-sector leaders and issued a stark but hopeful call to world leaders:
save millions of children’s lives and make some of the deadliest diseases history by 2045.
“Humanity is at a crossroads. With millions of children’s lives on the line, global leaders have a
once-in-a-generation chance to do something extraordinary,” said Gates. “The choices they
make now—whether to go forward with proposed steep cuts to health aid or to give the world’s
children the chance they deserve to live a healthy life—will determine what kind of future we
leave the next generation.”
This year, donor countries dealing with domestic challenges, high debt levels, and aging
populations made dramatic funding cuts to global development assistance for health (DAH).
According to a recent study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), global
DAH fell by 21% between 2024 and 2025, and is now at a 15-year low. With key global health
funding decisions expected before the end of the year, total funding levels could rise. However,
if the current cuts hold, they threaten decades of progress that saw child mortality cut in half
since 2000—from 10 million children to less than 5 million children a year—one of humanity’s
greatest achievements.
During the annual event, which this year focused on reigniting a shared commitment to saving
children’s lives, Gates announced his foundation’s pledge of $912 million over three years to
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s 2026-2028 replenishment. The
Global Fund is one of the most effective lifesaving initiatives of the 21st century. Its fundraising
replenishment cycle ends this November, underscoring the urgency for governments to make
pivotal decisions in the coming weeks and months for the lives of millions of people.
“What’s happening to the health of the world’s children is worse than most people realize, but
our long-term prospects are better than most people can imagine,” said Gates. “I don’t expect
most governments to suddenly restore foreign aid to historic levels, but I am an optimist, and I
believe governments can and will do what’s needed to save as many children as possible,” said
Gates.
With shrinking global health budgets as the backdrop, the Goalkeepers event highlighted the
people, science and innovations, and policies that are accelerating solutions for how leaders
can do more with less.
A Roadmap to a Healthier Future
“We have a roadmap for saving millions of children and making some of the deadliest
childhood diseases history by 2045,” Gates asserted. “I’m urging world leaders to invest in the
health of all people, especially children, to deliver this future.”
Results from work by the Gates Foundation and the IHME indicate that sustaining global
investments in child health and scaling lifesaving innovations could cut child deaths in half
again over the next 20 years.
The roadmap includes:
• Renewing investments in proven initiatives, such as the Global Fund and Gavi, the
Vaccine Alliance, to help countries make smarter, more cost-effective health decisions;
gain access to proven vaccines, medicines, and treatments; and focus on sustainability
and transitioning to self-reliance
• Prioritizing primary health care systems—even in the face of challenging budget
decisions—to prevent, detect, and treat childhood illnesses early
• Investing in further R&D and effectively rolling out breakthrough innovations that
include:
- A suite of new approaches to combating malaria, including innovations that
prevent mosquitoes from carrying parasites and single-dose treatments to
accelerate eradication of the disease - Long-acting HIV drugs and prevention options that replace daily pills to drive
AIDS deaths down to single digits - New maternal vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and group B
streptococcus (GBS) that have the potential to protect babies from deadly
respiratory illnesses - Artificial intelligence to leverage smarter, faster, and cheaper delivery of safe,
cost-effective medicines to dramatically improve lives.
A New Three-Year Commitment to the Global Fund
Since 2002, the Global Fund has saved more than 70 million lives; reduced deaths from AIDS,
TB, and malaria by more than 60%; and strengthened global health security. Each dollar
invested in the Global Fund delivers an estimated $19 in health and economic returns.
The foundation’s new pledge brings its total commitments to the Global Fund to $4.9 billion
since 2002, making it one of the foundation’s largest investments. The pledge aims to galvanize
governments, philanthropists, and the private sector to come to the table with significant
investments for the fund’s Eighth Replenishment, which is co-hosted by South Africa and the
United Kingdom. With millions of lives on the line, the level of investment in the Global Fund
over the next three years will determine whether the world saves millions of lives; curbs HIV, TB,
and malaria; and bolsters economies and global health security.
“An entire generation is alive today thanks to the world’s generosity, smart investments, and
the hard work of governments and Global Fund partners,” Gates said. “Now, we must go further
so the next generation grows up in a world where no child dies from preventable causes.”
Celebrating Goalkeeper Award and Champions
In recognition of his continued commitment to advance the Global Goals, the foundation
announced Spain’s President Pedro Sánchez as the winner of its 2025 Global Goalkeeper
Award. Under President Sanchez’s leadership, Spain increased contributions to the Global
Fund this year by nearly 12% and to Gavi by 30%, expanded official development assistance
(ODA), and hosted the landmark International Conference on Financing for Development in
June 2025.
The event also honored Goalkeepers Champions—experts, innovators, and advocates driving
progress in child survival worldwide. They include:
- Dr. Abhay Bang and Dr. Rani Bang (India) – Pioneering community-based health care
in India - Krystal Mwesiga Birungi (Uganda) – Championing youth-centered policies and
equitable health access across Africa - Toni Garrn (Germany) – Mobilizing resources to expand education and health care for
girls - John Green (USA) – Using storytelling and advocacy to spark vital conversations on
tuberculosis and mental health among young people - Osas Ighodaro (Nigeria) – Driving awareness and action in the fight against malaria
- Dr. Donald Kaberuka (Rwanda) – Advancing global health financing for effective health
system strengthening and expanding access to health care worldwide - Jerop Limo (Kenya) – Advancing HIV awareness and care for children and families
across Africa - Reem Al-Hashimy (United Arab Emirates) – Championing investments in health and
education through initiatives like Dubai Cares - Dr. Naveen Thacker (India) – Advancing child health through community-based
innovations
“We Can’t Stop at Almost”
The Goalkeepers event was co-hosted by singer, songwriter, and composer Jon Batiste, who
returned as musical curator for the second year with the PS22 elementary school choir, and
actress and director Olivia Wilde. Together, they urged the audience to remember that while the
world has made progress, “we can’t stop at almost,” which was the event’s theme.
Community champions, scientists, health workers, faith leaders, and activists from
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and the
United States shared powerful stories of resilience and innovation. Several showcased
breakthrough technologies already saving lives and moving the world closer to eradicating
deadly diseases.
“Every year, Goalkeepers unites changemakers to inspire and push one another forward,” said
Dawda Jobarteh, deputy director of the foundation’s Goalkeepers campaign. “Together, we can
reimagine a future without preventable child deaths and unlock the next wave of breakthroughs
for the world’s children.”
Event session presenters included Rick Warren, pastor and author; El Hadji Mansour Sy, co-
president of World Council of Religions for Peace; Ingrid Silva, ballet dancer and activist; Krista
Tippett, journalist and author; Latif Nasser, co-host of “Radiolab”; and Budi Gunadi Sadikin,
Indonesia’s minister of health.
Looking Ahead
Later this year, Goalkeepers will expand to the Middle East for the first time, convening leaders,
innovators, and changemakers from across the region and beyond in Abu Dhabi on December 8.
Ahead of that, the foundation will release its 2025 Goalkeepers Report, focusing on the impact
that leaders’ choices between now and the end of the year will have on saving children’s lives.
Earlier this year, Gates made a historic announcement that he would give away virtually all of
his wealth to the foundation to advance progress on saving and improving lives. He also
announced the foundation would spend $200 billion over the next 20 years, working with its
partners to make as much progress as possible towards three primary goals: end preventable
deaths of moms and babies; ensure the next generation grows up without having to suffer from
deadly infectious diseases; and lift millions of people out of poverty, putting them on a path to
prosperity. At the end of the 20-year period, the foundation will sunset its operations.
Photos and b-roll from the event, full bios of the Goalkeepers champions, and more can be
found here.
About the Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Gates Foundation works to help all
people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, we work with partners to create
impactful solutions so that people can take charge of their futures and achieve their full
potential. In the United States, we aim to ensure that everyone—especially those with the
fewest resources—has access to the opportunities needed to succeed in school and life. Based
in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Bill
Gates and our governing board.
About Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers is the foundation’s campaign to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable
Development Goals (Global Goals). By sharing stories and data behind the Global Goals
through an annual report, the Gates Foundation hopes to inspire a new generation of leaders—
Goalkeepers who raise awareness of progress, hold their leaders accountable, and drive action
to achieve the Global Goals.
Media contact: media@gatesfoundation.org
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