At the 2025 Goalkeepers event, Gates Foundation Chair Bill Gates addressed an audience of more than 1,000 global government, community, philanthropy, and private-sector leaders with a stark but hopeful call to action: 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 facing 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, reaching a 15-year low. With key global health funding decisions expected before the end of the year, total funding levels could rise—but if the cuts hold, they threaten decades of progress that saw child mortality cut in half since 2000, from 10 million to fewer than 5 million children a year, one of humanity’s greatest achievements.
During this year’s event, focused on reigniting a shared commitment to saving children’s lives, Gates announced a $912 million pledge over three years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s 2026–2028 replenishment. The Global Fund, one of the most effective lifesaving initiatives of the 21st century, concludes its fundraising replenishment cycle this November, underscoring the urgency for governments to make pivotal decisions in the coming weeks and months. “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,” Gates said. “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.”
With shrinking global health budgets as the backdrop, the Goalkeepers event highlighted the people, science, innovations, and policies 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 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 calls for:
- 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, including:
- New approaches to combating malaria, such as preventing mosquitoes from carrying parasites and developing single-dose treatments to accelerate eradication.
- Long-acting HIV drugs and prevention options that replace daily pills to drive AIDS deaths down to single digits.
- Maternal vaccines against RSV and group B streptococcus (GBS) to protect babies from deadly respiratory illnesses.
- Artificial intelligence to deliver safe, cost-effective medicines faster, smarter, and more affordably.
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 delivers an estimated $19 in health and economic returns. The Gates Foundation’s new pledge brings its total commitments to the Global Fund to $4.9 billion since 2002, making it one of its largest investments. This pledge aims to galvanize governments, philanthropists, and the private sector to contribute significantly to the fund’s Eighth Replenishment, co-hosted by South Africa and the United Kingdom. With millions of lives on the line, the next three years of investment 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 the Global Goalkeeper Award and Champions
In recognition of his continued commitment to advance the Global Goals, the foundation announced President of the Government of Spain Pedro Sánchez as the winner of its 2025 Global Goalkeeper Award. Under Prime Minister Sánchez’s leadership, Spain increased contributions to the Global Fund 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—including:
- Dr. Abhay Bang and Dr. Rani Bang (India) – Pioneering community-based health care.
- David Beckham (UK) – Advocating for child health and education.
- 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 and expanding access to health care.
- Jerop Limo (Kenya) – Advancing HIV awareness and care for children and families across Africa.
- Reem Al-Hashimy (UAE) – 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—returning 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,” 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, El Hadji Mansour Sy, Ingrid Silva, Krista Tippett, Latif Nasser, and Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
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 how leaders’ choices between now and the end of the year will affect the future of children’s lives.
Earlier this year, Gates announced he would give away virtually all of his wealth to the foundation to advance progress on saving and improving lives. He also committed the foundation to spend $200 billion over the next 20 years toward three primary goals: ending preventable deaths of mothers and babies; ensuring the next generation grows up free from deadly infectious diseases; and lifting millions of people out of poverty. At the end of the 20-year period, the foundation will sunset its operations.
