Announcing new grants to advance health, education, and economic opportunity across the Global South 

Across many of the communities we support, the barriers to a healthy and stable life are deeply interconnected. Under-resourced health systems put mothers and newborns at preventable risk. Unreliable water and sanitation keeps girls out of school. When women lack access to income and financial tools, families have fewer pathways to stability. And in a growing number of contexts, climate pressures are compounding all of it. 

This year, the Peter Gilgan Foundation is supporting a portfolio of grants designed to address these challenges together, working with partners who are strengthening systems, expanding essential services, and creating conditions for women, children, and families to thrive. 

What this funding is expected to change 

Across more than 25 organizations, this round of grants is expected to reach over one million people with improved access to services, opportunities, and support. 

The outcomes we anticipate reflect change at multiple levels: 

• Stronger health outcomes for mothers, newborns, and children. Communities will have improved access to quality maternal, newborn, and child health services, including safer deliveries, better nutrition, and greater continuity of care across both stable and fragile settings. 
• Expanded access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Hundreds of thousands of people will gain reliable access to clean water and improved sanitation, reducing waterborne disease, supporting healthier learning and care environments, and improving daily life for families. 
• Better education access and learning outcomes. Children and youth, particularly girls and those in fragile or displaced contexts, will be better supported to enrol, attend, and succeed in school, with more stable and inclusive learning environments. 
• Increased economic opportunity for women and girls. Women will be supported to strengthen livelihoods, increase income, and participate more fully in local economies, including through climate-resilient and nature-based pathways that improve income stability while supporting environmental sustainability. 
• Greater voice and agency for women and girls. Women and girls will have expanded access to education, leadership opportunities, and community decision-making, building long-term empowerment from the ground up. 

What this looks like in practice 

These investments are concentrated primarily across Sub-Saharan Africa, with a small number of partners also working in South Asia and Latin America. Across all of these contexts, the orientation is the same: strengthening the systems that make change possible and sustainable. 

Partners across the portfolio are training health workers and improving quality of care in facilities. They are delivering climate-resilient water and sanitation infrastructure supported by community governance. They are working alongside teachers and local organizations to improve learning environments for marginalized children. They are expanding access to financial services, skills training, and market participation for women. And in many cases, they are doing this work embedded within government-led initiatives, helping to strengthen and sustain what already exists rather than building in parallel. 

This is not a collection of stand-alone projects. It is a portfolio designed to reinforce itself, recognizing that progress in health, education, and economic opportunity is more durable when these areas are strengthened together. 

Why this matters 

The communities where this work takes place have endured cycles of under-investment, fragility, and disruption. What they need is not more short-term interventions. They need partners with the capacity, roots, and commitment to build change that lasts. 

That is the approach we are trying to support. By working with partners who are embedded in the communities they serve, and by prioritizing long-term system strengthening over project-level outputs, we aim to contribute to something more durable: healthier families, stronger systems, and expanded opportunity for women, children, and families. 

The full list of organizations and projects supported through this funding round is available here.