Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
Kate Hampton, Chief Executive Officer
In today’s world, women’s and girls’ rights, and particularly their sexual and reproductive rights, need powerful advocates and defenders more than ever before.
As CEO of the world’s largest philanthropy focused on children and young people, I am determined to ensure that our programmes and partnerships practically improve the agency of girls and young women in choosing their own futures. When women and girls can make decisions about their own healthcare and motherhood, they can fulfil their educational potential and earn their own income, have a stronger voice within their families and communities, and more agency over all aspects of their lives.
How we are working so SheDecides
CIFF believes that at the heart of a woman-centred approach to development is the right of every woman and girl to have control over her body.
Through our Girl Capital and SRHR portfolios, we work with our incredible partners to place power in the hands of women by offering access to comprehensive sexuality education, integrated sexual health services including self-care options like self-injectable contraception, preventing unsafe abortion, improving quality, and working with decision-makers and community stakeholders to create a supportive policy and normative environment.
This work is about finding innovative, empowering, scalable and sustainable ways to challenge restrictive gender and social norms which prevent girls and women from exercising freedom of choice.
Improving SRHR options through Step Up
Ensuring access to contraception and safe abortion or post-abortion care is a core part of CIFF’s SRHR work. Through CIFF’s flagship “SRHR Step Up” investment, our partners MSI are increasing SRHR delivery through interventions focused on reaching the last mile across the Sahel and central Africa.
Between October 2021 and March 2024, 4.6m women and girls have taken up a family planning method, with an estimated 2.5m unsafe abortions and 29k maternal deaths averted. A hundred thousand women accessed safe abortion and post abortion care services. Meanwhile, rollout of values clarification training has ensured that even in restrictive environments, providers and community stakeholders are aware of the legal context in which safe abortion and post abortion care can be provided.
Read MoreReducing cost barriers to medical abortion
CIFF is partnering with pharmaceutical manufacturers to develop low cost, quality assured Combipack mifepristone and misoprostol, while reducing the prices at which it is available by over 50%, from $4-$7 to an average of below $2.50 per pack.
Reduction of pricing for quality assured mifepristone and misoprostol, medication most commonly used to induce medical abortion and to manage miscarriage, will reduce cost barriers and improve access to safe abortion care.
Putting reproductive health in the hands of girls
CIFF, the FCDO, and Tiko established the world’s first Development Impact Bond (DIB) for adolescent SRH between 2020-2022, helping girls take control of their reproductive choices. The Tiko tech platform is a key innovation, connecting girls to quality-assured SRH services and providing nudges for continued uptake of services.
The programme is currently implementing its second DIB, supported by UNFPA. In its first year of implementation, it has provided over 460,000 family planning services and 221,000 HIV services to adolescent girls.
Based on its success CIFF is working to expand the programme, aiming to reach 1,000,000 girls a year by 2026.
Read MoreAbout Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
CIFF is an independent philanthropic organisation, with offices in Addis Ababa, Beijing, London, Nairobi and New Delhi. We work with a range of partners seeking to transform the lives of children and adolescents. Partnerships are critical, because it will take the combined efforts of many to tackle urgently the challenges faced by children and their families every day. We have no religious or political affiliation. Our programmes are designed to support bold ideas to solve seemingly intractable problems.
We know that the returns on smart investments in areas such as children’s early development and adolescent girls are especially high. So we aim to play a catalytic role as a funder and influencer to deliver urgent and lasting change at scale.
Areas of work include maternal and child health, adolescent sexual health, nutrition, education, and deworming, tackling child slavery and exploitation, increasing opportunities for girls and young women, and supporting smart ways to slow down and stop climate change.
We place significant emphasis on quality data and evidence. For many of our grants, we work with partners to measure and evaluate progress to achieve large scale and sustainable impact. Transparency is also an important part of our grant-making. We publish information about our grants along with data, evidence and evaluations in a variety of ways, including on our comprehensive grant portfolio tool.
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