Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund

The United Nations has established a Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in the response to the outbreak of the mosquito borne virus in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Key facts:

·       The Fund aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners.

·       It will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in consultation with UN agencies, partners and international epidemiological experts.

·       Donors will contribute to a central point, and an Advisory Committee will direct funds to the highest-priority activities in the affected countries.

Background:

Since January 2015, 61 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean have reported local transmission of Zika, which is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes. The recent rise in the spread of the virus in some countries has been accompanied by an unprecedented rise in the number of children being born with unusually small heads – identified as microcephaly.