A new letter published in The Lancet, “Global donor funding for COVID-19 was largely disbursed as loans: it’s time to adjust,” co-authored by Jehane Sedky, Executive Director, FXB Center for Health & Human Rights at Harvard University; Abbey Gardner, Executive Director, Science of Implementation Initiative; and Dr. Louise Ivers, Faculty Director, Harvard Global Health Institute, examines how global COVID-19 aid was delivered—and what the data reveal about the state of international solidarity. The analysis draws on a comprehensive study recently released by Jehane Sedky and Abbey Gardner in close collaboration with Dr. Louise Ivers and Mr. Habib Mayar of the g7+.
Between 2020 and 2022, the authors found that out of the $170.9 billion disbursed in global COVID-19 assistance, 60 percent was issued as loans, while less than nine percent reached partner governments as grants.
Reaching these figures was far from straightforward: publicly available estimates of COVID-19 funding ranged from $136 billion to $21 trillion, exposing how fragmented and opaque global aid data remains. The analysis calls for improved transparency and real-time reporting of official development assistance to strengthen donor accountability and national planning.
“Our new analysis of COVID-19 donor funding reveals a profound disconnect between the rhetoric of global solidarity and the reality: most official development assistance was issued as loans, and direct support to partner governments was minimal. The absence of timely reporting underscores a major accountability gap, undermining aid effectiveness commitments.”
As global development budgets contract, the authors emphasize that these lessons are more urgent than ever. Transparent, predictable, and government-aligned aid systems are essential if countries are to respond to future crises with clarity and confidence.
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