Health
THE European Commission has become the latest Gavi donor to pledge funding towards the first two years of its next five-year period, Gavi 6.0. Speaking to a packed crowd at the Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park on Saturday 28 September, the Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen announced a new funding pledge of €260 million for the years 2026–2027, with an assertion that more will come.
This support will complement strong support from Team Europe to Gavi. The funds will contribute to Gavi’s goal for 2030 to help protect 500 million more children around the world, strengthen immunisation systems, and boost global health security by increasing readiness to respond to disease outbreaks.
The pledge tops off a productive week in New York for Gavi, which also saw an expansion of its innovative financing capabilities, as well as important progress in underlining the role of vaccines in fighting antimicrobial resistance and in the use of AI and other cutting-edge technologies in rolling out vaccinations.
Taking into account money already pledged by the USA, France, Spain and others at the launch of Gavi’s replenishment campaign in June, Gavi’s total fundraising for its next strategic period is US$2.7 billion, against an overall target of at least US$9 billion.
The European Commission’s pledge of €260 million concerns the first 2 years of Gavi’s next strategic cycle which coincide with the last 2 years of the EU’s current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021–2027. The Commission will remain committed to a high level of ambition in supporting GAVI when designing its proposal for the next MFF. This will complement strong support to Gavi from EU Member States in a Team Europe approach.
Gavi hopes to conclude this replenishment process in early 2025. Successfully meeting its target will enable it to protect more children, against more diseases faster than ever before and help protect the world from outbreaks of diseases such as mpox, Ebola and cholera during its next strategic period.
Also during UNGA, Gavi and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, DFC, announced a new expansion to their partnership focused on donor liquidity. Building on support put in place during COVID-19, the US$1 billion Rapid Financing Facility will allow Gavi to quickly access funds in the event of new donor pledges for pandemic response or routine immunisation.
This mechanism will also form a critical part of Gavi’s Day Zero Financing Facility, which is designed to respond to one of the learnings from COVID-19, when delays in accessing finance let to delays in securing access to vaccines for the most vulnerable.
Commenting on the two developments Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said: “We are grateful for the strong support shown by the European Commission and President Von der Leyen herself for her leadership in advancing global health outcomes. We are also deeply grateful to DFC for extending our partnership, allowing Gavi to immediately turn donor pledges into cash, thereby rapidly accelerate our ability to access vaccines in the future. Thanks to the European Commission and DFC, we remain on track to meet our target of protecting people, communities even our entire world through immunisation.”
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: ‘A healthier world is a better world. And vaccination is one of our best chances for this. Right now, millions of children are still at risk. We must continue to support vaccination around the world to save lives. So today I am proud to pledge 260 million euros for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. And more will come.’
“We recognize that global health security is economic and national security. DFC investments in healthcare services, supply chains, and technology strengthen pandemic preparedness and health system resilience. Over the past several years, DFC has invested over $3 billion in health-related projects, which have helped over 50 million patients access healthcare. With the new Surge Financing Initiative, the expanded Gavi liquidity facility, and investments in regional manufacturing, we will be able to do far more to expand access to life-saving healthcare products, especially during health emergencies” said Nisha Biswal, DFC Deputy CEO.
Gavi celebrates the strong political will of Member States at UNGA 79’s High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, AMR, endorsing a historic Political Declaration,that includes long overdue language on immunisation particularly featuring:
- Commitment from Member states to promote the alignment of national AMR action plans on with national vaccination and immunization strategies.
- Prioritisation on prevention, including through vaccination and routine immunisation.
- Commitment towards the implementation of the Immunisation Agenda.
- Reference to vaccines and the need for their equitable and timely access throughout the declaration.
Gavi is also directly mentioned in the political declaration as a key financing mechanism alongside the World Bank and The Global Fund and others, encouraged to expand or facilitate access to funding towards key interventions in the fight against AMR.
As part of its activities at UNGA 79, Gavi’s CEO Dr Sania Nishtar hosted the side event, The Future of Immunisation for Humanity: Unleashing the Potential of New Technologies to Reach the Unreached. With participation from Ministers of Health, agency heads and leading innovators, the discussion identified concrete actions on how cutting-edge advancements in technology could support reaching zero dose children.
Gavi also co-hosted the Healthier Future through Equitable Immunisation Side Event alongside Rotary International, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the Measles & Rubella Partnership (M&RP) and the Gates Foundation. The event facilitated dialogue among global, regional, and local actors to ensure life-saving interventions reach those in need. It highlighted the experiences of advocates and individuals affected by vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as honored those who have dedicated their lives to this critical work.
A.I
Sept. 30, 2024
Tags: European Commission GAVI
