Doha, Qatar, 21 November 2022 – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), AAA-rated multilateral development bank serving the South, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have joined hands to scale up action on reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Attending the “Scoring for the Goals” event on the sidelines of the FIFA World Cup 2022, in Doha, Qatar, the leaders of the two organizations signed a Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) that lays out a roadmap to jointly support their common member countries and the world to achieve the SDGs.

The SFA -- signed by IsDB Group President and Group Chairman, H.E. Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, and WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus -- recognizes the critical importance of partnerships in implementing the 2030 Agenda for the SDGs within both organizations’ respective strategic frameworks and a joint agenda to be agreed.

After signing the SFA, IsDB President, Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, stated: “I am pleased to participate in this historic milestone to sign the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) and discuss the strengthening of our areas of cooperation, building on the first MoU signed between the IsDB and WHO 3 years after the Bank’s creation in 1975.  IsDB values expanding areas of collaboration with WHO as reflected in the sixth pillar of this SFA, which is to Improve IsDB Accountability and Governance for Health.”

According to Dr Al Jasser, the SFA is fully aligned with IsDB’s Health Sector policy and Realigned Strategy (2023-2025). “IsDB is looking forward to further strengthening cooperation with WHO. We welcome WHO support to work with the newly established Pandemic Fund to unlock more grant resources for the neediest common member countries. This new partnership will also open opportunities for a funding model that supports long-term sustainable instruments for recipient countries to address national health priorities,” he stated.

‘Even before COVID-19, the world was off-track for the SDGs, and the overlapping crises of the pandemic, climate change, conflicts, divisive politics and inflation have put us even further behind,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “But rather than derailing the SDGs, the challenges we face demonstrate why we must pursue them with even more determination, innovation and cooperation. The agreement WHO is signing with the Islamic Development Bank will help us to do that in some of the poorest, most fragile and most vulnerable countries in the world’.