The Lives and Livelihoods Fund

Among the 57 member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), some have achieved remarkable economic growth and social cohesion, improving the lives of their citizens of all religions and expanding their international aid programs. Some of them are among the world’s largest health and development donors.

At the same time, other member countries face complex crises and considerable barriers to obtaining the resources they need to achieve their health and development goals.

In response, the IsDB and development partners, including the Gates Foundation, launched the Lives and Livelihoods Fund in 2016 with the aim of removing barriers that prevent the lowest-income countries from obtaining sufficient resources to achieve sustainable progress.

An estimated 281 million people live in extreme poverty across IsDB member countries and are subject to cycles of intergenerational poverty, poor health and nutrition, and lack of access to basic infrastructure.

The Lives and Livelihoods Fund is an innovative, multilateral development initiative that provides affordable financing to those countries by offering a combination of grants and concessional loans. The second phase of the fund, launched in 2023, features increased levels of concessionality to make financing even more responsive to the needs of individual countries, especially when they face debt distress.

The fund supports projects that address the root causes of poverty in IsDB member countries, with a focus on three areas:

Improving health:

Positive health outcomes are essential to alleviating poverty and transforming livelihoods. The fund supports programs that combat infectious diseases such as malaria and polio, ensure greater access to routine immunization, and strengthen primary health care systems. Actual and projected results in improving primary health care include:

• 400M+ immunizations administered
• 2,400 health facilities built, upgraded, equipped, or strengthened
• 35K+ health professionals trained

Increasing agricultural productivity:

Agricultural productivity is crucial to improving nutrition, food security, and livelihoods for smallholder farmers. Investments by the fund in agricultural projects help farmers increase their production of livestock and staple crops while adapting to the changing climate. Actual and projected results in agriculture include:

• 65K+ farmers trained and provided with climate-resilient crop varieties
• 180K+ agricultural jobs created
• 719K+ hectares of land improved for increased productivity and efficiency

Building basic infrastructure:

Lack of access to basic infrastructure can prevent poor communities from connecting to needed resources. That’s why the fund invests in off-grid rural power generation, transmission, and distribution; innovative water supply and sanitation systems; and infrastructure that supports financial inclusion, such as digital banking. Actual and projected results in basic infrastructure include:

• 7M+ people projected to benefit from inclusive, safely managed water and sanitation services
• 26 sludge processing plants built
• 13K+ households and social facilities connected to electricity

IsDB member countries also face the dual challenges of climate change, which disproportionately affects women and youth, and gender inequality more generally. To respond to these challenges, all projects funded by the second phase of the fund will include targets for climate adaptation and women’s economic empowerment.

While the Muslim world has a rich tradition of charity, aid alone is not enough to achieve true progress on the entrenched challenges faced by some of the lowest-income countries in IsDB’s membership. The fund addresses this challenge through its innovative financing model, which pools donor grants with IsDB lending capital in a multi-donor trust fund. This enables each dollar donated to the fund to be multiplied many times by highly concessional loans from the IsDB, unlocking more financing for critical health and development projects.

The first phase of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, which launched in 2016, allocated US$1.4 billion to 37 projects in 22 countries across Africa and Asia, and achieved transformative results. For example, the US$160 million directed to the polio eradication initiative in Pakistan contributed to a steep fall in polio cases in the country. In Senegal, the fund helped support the national malaria control program, which achieved a rapid reduction of malaria cases and deaths. In Sierra Leone, Senegal, Niger, Guinea, and the Gambia, the fund’s support helped regional rice value chain projects increase rice productivity and strengthen market linkages for smallholder farmers.

The second phase of the fund launched in 2023, with key design enhancements to support the fund’s strategy and delivery. These include higher levels of concessionality to respond to debt distress in LLF-eligible countries, new cross-cutting themes of climate adaptation and women’s economic empowerment, and further improvements to the fund’s management capabilities.

Contributions and commitments from fund partners include:

• Gates Foundation: up to US$100 million to each phase
• King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre: US$100 million to each phase
• Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development: US$100 million to the first phase and nearly US$50 million to the second phase
• Abu Dhabi Fund for Development: US$50 million to each phase
• Qatar Fund for Development: US$50 million to the first phase

Become a donor: The fund is seeking further contributions. The target for the second phase is US$500 million in total donor grant funding.

Request funding: We encourage IsDB member countries to apply for funding. For more information, please use the funding queries contact form or contact Zahira El Marzouki, Head of Middle East Relations, Gates Foundation, or Bandar Alhoweish, Manager of the Lives & Livelihoods Fund Management Unit, Islamic Development Bank.