Human Capital Trust Fund

Human Capital Trust Fund is sponsored by World Bank. A fund supporting activities through grants across 38 countries to build human capital, addressing challenges such as gender equality and climate change.

The Human Capital Trust Fund was launched in 2019 with generous support from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Canada. The Trust Fund helps countries to invest in people through a comprehensive, evidence-based approach. The Human Capital Trust Fund influences World Bank Group operations to deliver impact at scale.

Activities funded by it have informed 52 World Bank Group-financed operations, totaling more than $13. 92 billion in lending. Aligned with the objectives of the Human Capital Project – a global program that comprises 97 member economies committed to building, protecting, and utilizing human capital – it operates through three pillars: measurement, global collaboration, and analytics for decision-making.

Impact of Human Capital Trust Fund Impact of Human Capital Trust Fund Human Capital Trust Fund: Areas of Engagement​ The world is facing a new generation of challenges. Investing in human capital to address these challenges is more urgent than ever.

The Human Capital Trust Fund (HCTF) assists governments by providing evidence and on-the-ground technical support, as well as fostering dialogue to advance the knowledge, skills and good health of people. The HCTF focuses on cross-sectoral challenges. These include service delivery, empowering women and girls, and building resilience in the face of crises.

It also supports evidence and operations on the human capital dimensions of climate change, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital transformation, and demographic changes. Considerations around gender equality are integrated across the projects and strategies. The Human Capital Dimensions of AI Emerging digital technologies, such as AI, offer promising opportunities to accelerate human capital development and protection.

However, AI also comes with risks, such as the potential for increased inequality between countries and within societies. Poorer countries and the most vulnerable populations are at risk of falling behind. By prioritizing education, health, social safety nets, and skills development, countries can ensure that their populations are prepared to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

The HCTF provides 9 research grants to World Bank teams exploring these opportunities and challenges. These grants support more and better evidence on solutions that leverage digital technologies to advance delivery of human capital services. These include digital-enabled education, extending healthcare access in remote and underserved areas through technology and streamlining health data management.

Climate Change and Human Capital Grants Investing in people—through better health, education, social protection, and skills—is key to building resilience and supporting adaptation and mitigation. Climate change is eroding human capital at all stages of life, with long-lasting consequences for people’s well-being and productivity.

From health to education and jobs, climate shocks and long-term trends deepen inequality and threaten progress. The HCTF supports 14 grants which strengthen World Bank operations and dialogue through climate-smart human capital analytics and tools. The grants prioritize strategies aligned with the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDR ) that can effectively reduce emissions while advancing economic transformation.

Demographics for Development Demographic changes leave aging countries with smaller workforces, fiscal pressures, and slower growth, while young countries face booming youth populations and demand for more and better jobs. Effective human capital policies can mitigate the impact of such demographic changes and benefit countries from these transitions.

The HCTF will support the Demographics for Development initiative to provide insights into demographic transitions, supporting country-level analytics. Investing in adolescent girls drives transformative gains in human capital.

The work supported by the HCTF focuses on the Sub-Saharan Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Plus (SWEDD+) project, which aims to empower adolescent girls and young women across 7 countries in West and Central Africa.

By funding pilot programs, generating rigorous evidence, and testing innovative approaches, the HCTF supports strategies to delay early marriage, keep girls in school, expand access to reproductive health services, and foster women’s economic participation.

Insights generated through these grants are translated through SWEDD+ into scalable, multi-sectoral interventions that integrate health, education, social protection, and livelihood opportunities. GIRL’s research informs policy reforms at national and regional levels, ensuring governments and partners have the tools to dismantle harmful gender norms and strengthen human capital systems.

Human Capital Trust Fund Countries As of December 2025, the Human Capital Trust Fund supports grants across 38 countries. Through analytical work and strategic initiatives, these grants allow World Bank operations to build human capital in places where it is needed most.

Beyond support for health, education and social protection, Human Capital Trust Fund grants tackles cross-sectoral challenges such as advancing gender equality, planning for demographic and technological change and addressing the climate crisis. The Human Capital Trust Fund Program was launched in 2019 with generous support from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Canada.

Human Capital Trust Fund Annual Report 2025 With generous support from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Canada, the Human Capital Trust Fund (HCTF) supports activities through grants across 38 countries. HCTF is an agile, catalytic funding mechanism, which has informed 52 World Bank Group operations influencing more than $13. 92 billion in lending.

The 2025 Annual Report demonstrates how measurement, global collaboration, and analytics related to human capital can produce real, measurable results. It highlights human capital aspects of cross-sectoral topics, such as gender equality, climate change, and Artificial Intelligence.

Human Capital Trust Fund Annual Report 2025 Improving Lives Through Technological Change Emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer promising opportunities to accelerate human capital There is a staggering demand across the World Bank and among its partners for knowledge about leveraging AI for human capital. The Human Capital Trust Fund is investing in this evidence.

Improving Lives Through Technological Change Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2024 The Human Capital Umbrella Trust Fund Program, launched in 2019 with support from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Canada, catalyzes investments in people through a comprehensive, evidence-based approach.

Since its inception, activities funded by the Umbrella Program have informed 29 World Bank-financed operations, totaling more than $8. 5 billion in lending. Working across sectors and government agencies, the program drives lasting social and economic transformation through three key pillars: knowledge and measurement, country engagement, and global collaboration.

Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2024 Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2023 Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Government of Canada, the Human Capital Umbrella Program serves as a catalyst for accelerating investments in people.

The Program continued to advance its work through a whole-of-government approach to support evidence-based initiatives across sectors to foster lasting social and economic transformation. Through analytical work and strategic initiatives, the program influences project design and implementation to effectively advance human capital outcomes.

Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2023 Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2022 Harnessing Catalytic Initiatives to Accelerate Investments in Human Capital (May, 2023) The 2022 Annual Report highlights program results in 18 countries in Africa and South Asia.

The Umbrella Program mainstreams and embeds a human capital approach to development, and collectively addresses challenges through multisectoral action—a ‘whole-of-government’ approach—yielding results at scale in high priority countries and globally.

Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2022 Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2021 The Advancing Human Capital Outcomes Globally Multi-Donor Trust Fund was established in November 2019 with a contribution by the Gates Foundation. In March 2021 it formally became the “Human Capital Umbrella Program” and received an additional commitment from the government of Canada.

The Umbrella Program is an agile financing mechanism designed to support catalytic initiatives focused on accelerating human capital outcomes, and it is aligned with the multisectoral development objectives of the Human Capital Project (HCP) at the World Bank Group (WBG). Human Capital Umbrella Program Annual Report 2021 A global effort to accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth.

Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+) The Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+) measures how effectively a country builds human capital, tracking the likelihood that children today will grow into healthy, educated, and productive adults.

Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+) Human Capital Reviews (HCRs) The Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+) measures how effectively a country builds human capital, tracking the likelihood that children today will grow into healthy, educated, and productive adults. Human Capital Reviews (HCRs)